diff --git a/libguile/options.c b/libguile/options.c
index 5c43a1d5d..d3aa1a370 100644
--- a/libguile/options.c
+++ b/libguile/options.c
@@ -184,8 +184,7 @@ change_option_setting (SCM args, scm_t_option options[], const char *s,
   unsigned int i;
   scm_t_bits *new_vals;
 
-  new_vals = scm_allocate_sloppy (SCM_I_CURRENT_THREAD,
-                                  options_length (options) * sizeof (scm_t_bits));
+  new_vals = alloca (options_length (options) * sizeof (scm_t_bits));
 
   for (i = 0; options[i].name; ++i)
     {