diff --git a/src/search.c b/src/search.c
index aa17e673..d9041c05 100644
--- a/src/search.c
+++ b/src/search.c
@@ -994,7 +994,7 @@ void do_find_bracket(void)
 	 * the bracket at the current cursor position. */
     int wanted_ch_len;
 	/* The length of wanted_ch in bytes. */
-    char *bracket_set;
+    char bracket_set[MAXCHARLEN * 2 + 1];
 	/* The pair of characters in ch and wanted_ch. */
     size_t i;
 	/* Generic loop variable. */
@@ -1008,8 +1008,6 @@ void do_find_bracket(void)
 	/* The initial bracket count. */
     bool reverse;
 	/* The direction we search. */
-    char *found_ch;
-	/* The character we find. */
 
     assert(mbstrlen(matchbrackets) % 2 == 0);
 
@@ -1057,20 +1055,16 @@ void do_find_bracket(void)
     wanted_ch_len = parse_mbchar(wanted_ch, NULL, NULL);
 
     /* Fill bracket_set in with the values of ch and wanted_ch. */
-    bracket_set = charalloc((MAXCHARLEN * 2) + 1);
     strncpy(bracket_set, ch, ch_len);
     strncpy(bracket_set + ch_len, wanted_ch, wanted_ch_len);
     bracket_set[ch_len + wanted_ch_len] = '\0';
 
-    found_ch = charalloc(MAXCHARLEN + 1);
-
     while (TRUE) {
 	if (find_bracket_match(reverse, bracket_set)) {
 	    /* If we found an identical bracket, increment count.  If we
 	     * found a complementary bracket, decrement it. */
-	    parse_mbchar(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
-			found_ch, NULL);
-	    count += (strncmp(found_ch, ch, ch_len) == 0) ? 1 : -1;
+	    count += (strncmp(openfile->current->data + openfile->current_x,
+				 ch, ch_len) == 0) ? 1 : -1;
 
 	    /* If count is zero, we've found a matching bracket.  Update
 	     * the screen and get out. */
@@ -1088,10 +1082,6 @@ void do_find_bracket(void)
 	    break;
 	}
     }
-
-    /* Clean up. */
-    free(bracket_set);
-    free(found_ch);
 }
 #endif /* !NANO_TINY */