diff --git a/src/g_game.cpp b/src/g_game.cpp
index 734500e55..beec9435a 100644
--- a/src/g_game.cpp
+++ b/src/g_game.cpp
@@ -2636,7 +2636,7 @@ void G_DoPlayDemo (void)
 	{
 		FixPathSeperator (defdemoname);
 		DefaultExtension (defdemoname, ".lmp");
-		M_ReadFile (defdemoname, &demobuffer);
+		M_ReadFileMalloc (defdemoname, &demobuffer);
 	}
 	demo_p = demobuffer;
 
diff --git a/src/m_misc.cpp b/src/m_misc.cpp
index c550c4593..7f4fa482d 100644
--- a/src/m_misc.cpp
+++ b/src/m_misc.cpp
@@ -137,6 +137,32 @@ int M_ReadFile (char const *name, BYTE **buffer)
 	return length;
 }
 
+//
+// M_ReadFile (same as above but use malloc instead of new to allocate the buffer.)
+//
+int M_ReadFileMalloc (char const *name, BYTE **buffer)
+{
+	int handle, count, length;
+	struct stat fileinfo;
+	BYTE *buf;
+
+	handle = open (name, O_RDONLY | O_BINARY, 0666);
+	if (handle == -1)
+		I_Error ("Couldn't read file %s", name);
+	if (fstat (handle,&fileinfo) == -1)
+		I_Error ("Couldn't read file %s", name);
+	length = fileinfo.st_size;
+	buf = (BYTE*)M_Malloc(length);
+	count = read (handle, buf, length);
+	close (handle);
+
+	if (count < length)
+		I_Error ("Couldn't read file %s", name);
+
+	*buffer = buf;
+	return length;
+}
+
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //
 // PROC M_FindResponseFile
diff --git a/src/m_misc.h b/src/m_misc.h
index 90844221f..9599306de 100644
--- a/src/m_misc.h
+++ b/src/m_misc.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ extern FGameConfigFile *GameConfig;
 
 bool M_WriteFile (char const *name, void *source, int length);
 int M_ReadFile (char const *name, BYTE **buffer);
+int M_ReadFileMalloc (char const *name, BYTE **buffer);
 void M_FindResponseFile (void);
 
 // [RH] M_ScreenShot now accepts a filename parameter.