diff --git a/gdb/ChangeLog b/gdb/ChangeLog
index 7855776823..769187fad9 100644
--- a/gdb/ChangeLog
+++ b/gdb/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2016-11-08  Pedro Alves  <palves@redhat.com>
+
+	* utils.c (error_stream): Use ui_file_as_string and std::string.
+
 2016-11-08  Pedro Alves  <palves@redhat.com>
 
 	* ui-out.c (ui_out_field_stream): Use ui_file_as_string.
diff --git a/gdb/utils.c b/gdb/utils.c
index c7ba05197d..751f09949d 100644
--- a/gdb/utils.c
+++ b/gdb/utils.c
@@ -480,10 +480,9 @@ verror (const char *string, va_list args)
 void
 error_stream (struct ui_file *stream)
 {
-  char *message = ui_file_xstrdup (stream, NULL);
+  std::string message = ui_file_as_string (stream);
 
-  make_cleanup (xfree, message);
-  error (("%s"), message);
+  error (("%s"), message.c_str ());
 }
 
 /* Emit a message and abort.  */