diff --git a/include/exiv2/futils.hpp b/include/exiv2/futils.hpp
index db674efe..4d7963ef 100644
--- a/include/exiv2/futils.hpp
+++ b/include/exiv2/futils.hpp
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ namespace Exiv2
       @param str The url needs decoding.
       @return the url-decoded version of str.
 
-      @note Be sure to free() the returned string after use
+      @note Be sure to 'free' the returned string after use with 'delete []'.
             Source: http://www.geekhideout.com/urlcode.shtml
       @todo This function can probably be hidden into the implementation details
      */
diff --git a/src/futils.cpp b/src/futils.cpp
index 5764357a..f2695132 100644
--- a/src/futils.cpp
+++ b/src/futils.cpp
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
 
     char* urldecode(const char* str) {
         const char* pstr = str;
-        char* buf  = (char*)malloc(strlen(str) + 1);
+        char* buf  = new char [(strlen(str) + 1)];
         char* pbuf = buf;
         while (*pstr) {
             if (*pstr == '%') {
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ namespace Exiv2 {
     void urldecode(std::string& str) {
         char* decodeStr = Exiv2::urldecode(str.c_str());
         str = std::string(decodeStr);
-        free(decodeStr);
+        delete [] decodeStr;
     }
 
     int base64encode(const void* data_buf, size_t dataLength, char* result, size_t resultSize) {
diff --git a/unitTests/test_futils.cpp b/unitTests/test_futils.cpp
index b9f50296..cba26946 100644
--- a/unitTests/test_futils.cpp
+++ b/unitTests/test_futils.cpp
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ TEST(urldecode, decodesGivenUrl)
     const std::string url ("http%3a%2f%2fwww.geekhideout.com%2furlcode.shtml");
     char * url3 = urldecode(url.c_str());
     ASSERT_STREQ(expectedDecodedUrl.c_str(), url3);
-    free(url3);
+    delete [] url3;
 }
 
 TEST(urldecode, decodesGivenUrlInPlace)