diff --git a/include/common/array.h b/include/common/array.h
index a1ea7499..b60bafd6 100644
--- a/include/common/array.h
+++ b/include/common/array.h
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only */
 #ifndef LABWC_ARRAY_H
 #define LABWC_ARRAY_H
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <stdlib.h>
+
 #include <wayland-server-core.h>
+#include "common/mem.h"
 
 /*
  * Wayland's wl_array API is a bit sparse consisting only of
@@ -66,10 +66,7 @@ wl_array_len(struct wl_array *array)
 #define array_add(_arr, _val) do {                           \
 		__typeof__(_val) *_entry = wl_array_add(     \
 			(_arr), sizeof(__typeof__(_val)));   \
-		if (!_entry) {                               \
-			perror("Failed to allocate memory"); \
-			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);                  \
-		}                                            \
+		die_if_null(_entry);                         \
 		*_entry = (_val);                            \
 	} while (0)
 
diff --git a/include/common/mem.h b/include/common/mem.h
index d0d5fdc5..ba19c1d6 100644
--- a/include/common/mem.h
+++ b/include/common/mem.h
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
 
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
+/*
+ * If ptr is NULL, prints an error (based on errno) and exits.
+ * Suitable for checking the return value of malloc() etc.
+ */
+void die_if_null(void *ptr);
+
 /*
  * As defined in busybox, weston, etc.
  * Allocates zero-filled memory; calls exit() on error.
diff --git a/src/common/mem.c b/src/common/mem.c
index a7289ea0..72ba3324 100644
--- a/src/common/mem.c
+++ b/src/common/mem.c
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
-static void
+void
 die_if_null(void *ptr)
 {
 	if (!ptr) {