diff --git a/lang/basic/lib/salloc.c b/lang/basic/lib/salloc.c
index 4b00b2a38..f968fb4e1 100644
--- a/lang/basic/lib/salloc.c
+++ b/lang/basic/lib/salloc.c
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-/* $Header $ */
+/* $Header$ */
+
+extern char *malloc() ;
 
 char * salloc(length)
 int length;
 {
 	char *c, *s;
-	c= (char *) malloc(length);
+	c= malloc(length);
 	if( c== (char *) -1) error(5);
 	for(s=c;s<c+length;s++) *s = 0;
 	return(c);
@@ -13,6 +15,6 @@ int length;
 sfree(c)
 char *c;
 {
-	if( c== 0) return;
+	if( !c ) return;
 	free(c);
 }