diff --git a/libhtmlw/HTML.c b/libhtmlw/HTML.c
index 59698e6..08feca6 100644
--- a/libhtmlw/HTML.c
+++ b/libhtmlw/HTML.c
@@ -741,13 +741,13 @@ XGCValues values;
 	hw->html.bgclip_SAVE=None;
 
 	if (NoBodyImages(hw)) {
-		return;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 /* ??? Why is this here? */
 	hw->html.view->core.background_pixel = hw->html.background_SAVE ;
 
-	return;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 int NoBodyImages(Widget w) {
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ unsigned long valuemask;
 XGCValues values;
 
 	if (!bgname || !*bgname || !(hw->html.drawGC)) {
-		return;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	if (hw->html.delay_images==True || currently_delaying_images==1) {
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ XGCValues values;
 		}
 	}
 
-	return;
+	return 0;
 }
 
 
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ hw_do_color(Widget w, char *att, char *cname)
     int i;
 
     if (!att || !*att || !cname || !*cname) {
-        return;
+        return -1;
     }
 
     cmap = hw->core.colormap;
@@ -847,14 +847,14 @@ hw_do_color(Widget w, char *att, char *cname)
     if(!allocated){
         if(*val=='#') val++;
         if (!*val) {
-            return;
+            return -1;
         }
 
         if (strlen(val)>=6) {
 	    /* Must be valid hex */
 	    for (i=0; i<6; i++) {
 		if (!strchr("0123456789AaBbCcDdEeFf",val[i])) {
-		    return;
+		    return -1;
 		}
 	    }
 
@@ -875,10 +875,10 @@ hw_do_color(Widget w, char *att, char *cname)
             col.flags = DoRed | DoGreen | DoBlue;
             
             if (!XAllocColor(XtDisplay(w),cmap,&col)) {
-                return;
+                return -1;
             }
         } else {
-            return;
+            return -1;
         }
         
     }
@@ -910,7 +910,7 @@ hw_do_color(Widget w, char *att, char *cname)
         hw->html.activeAnchor_fg = col.pixel;
     }
     
-    return;
+    return -1;
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/libhtmlw/HTMLformat.c b/libhtmlw/HTMLformat.c
index 26cef60..0b46f74 100644
--- a/libhtmlw/HTMLformat.c
+++ b/libhtmlw/HTMLformat.c
@@ -2706,7 +2706,7 @@ int extra;
 
 	if ((*mptr)->is_end) {
 		/* end of table */
-		return;
+		return 0;
 		}
 
 	extra = 10;
@@ -2715,7 +2715,7 @@ int extra;
 	SetElement(hw, E_TABLE, currentFont, *x, *y, (char *) mptr, NULL, NULL, IMAGE_DEFAULT_BORDER); 
 	if (!Current->table_data) {
 		/* no table */
-		return;
+		return 0;
 		}
 	Current->alignment = ALIGN_MIDDLE;
 	Current->width = Current->table_data->width;
diff --git a/libhtmlw/HTMLtable.c b/libhtmlw/HTMLtable.c
index 3edcd26..84b92c4 100644
--- a/libhtmlw/HTMLtable.c
+++ b/libhtmlw/HTMLtable.c
@@ -1078,11 +1078,11 @@ int baseLine;
 int yy;
 
 	if (field->type == F_NONE) { /* nothing to display in field */
-		return;
+		return -1;
 		}
 
 	if (field->type != F_TEXT) { /* routine only does text at this time */
-		return;
+		return -1;
 		}
 
 	/* adjust for aesthetic surounding space */
diff --git a/libwww2/HTNews.c b/libwww2/HTNews.c
index 4d46c4a..6f9d125 100644
--- a/libwww2/HTNews.c
+++ b/libwww2/HTNews.c
@@ -960,7 +960,7 @@ int NNTPgetarthdrs(char *art,char **ref, char **grp, char **subj, char **from)
 	    char ch = *p++ = HTGetCharacter ();
 	    if (ch==(char)EOF) {
 		abort_socket();	/* End of file, close socket */
-		return;		/* End of file on response */
+		return -1;	/* End of file on response */
 	    }
 	    
 	    if ((ch == LF)
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 93c30f4..f69f0cc 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <malloc.h>
 
 /* swp */
 #define _KCMS_H_
@@ -231,6 +232,14 @@ main (int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
   /* Since we're doing lots of TCP, just ignore SIGPIPE altogether. */
   signal (SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
 
+#ifdef M_CHECK_ACTION
+  /* some code here has the habit of freeing pointers twice. The glibc
+     catches this and causes the program to abort. In order to make the
+     code somehow work, we turn aborting the program off. */
+
+  mallopt(M_CHECK_ACTION,5);
+#endif
+
   InitChildProcessor();
   MoCCIPreInitialize();