$NetBSD$
patch-ac
--- common/pipe.c.orig	2011-09-25 13:59:56.000000000 +0200
+++ common/pipe.c	2011-12-02 09:44:27.000000000 +0100
@@ -101,10 +101,25 @@
     }
 }
 
+char *strdup(const char *str)
+{
+    int n = strlen(str) + 1;
+    char *dup = malloc(n);
+    if(dup)
+    {
+        strcpy(dup, str);
+    }
+    return dup;
+}
+
+
 char *pipe_readString(FILE *in) {
     int length = pipe_readInt(in);
-    if (length <= 0) return strdup("");
-    
+    if (length <= 0) {
+	char a = '\0';
+	char *pa = &a;
+	return strdup(pa);
+     }
     char *data = malloc(length +1);
     if (!data) {
         pipeError();
