diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
index 71198b72c8..27184fb3c4 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
@@ -4786,13 +4786,10 @@ retry:
 
 	/*
 	 * Queue a waiter to signal when this child dies. The wait will be handled
-	 * automatically by an operating system thread pool.
-	 *
-	 * Note: use malloc instead of palloc, since it needs to be thread-safe.
-	 * Struct will be free():d from the callback function that runs on a
-	 * different thread.
+	 * automatically by an operating system thread pool.  The memory will be
+	 * freed by a later call to waitpid().
 	 */
-	childinfo = malloc(sizeof(win32_deadchild_waitinfo));
+	childinfo = palloc(sizeof(win32_deadchild_waitinfo));
 	if (!childinfo)
 		ereport(FATAL,
 				(errcode(ERRCODE_OUT_OF_MEMORY),
@@ -6463,7 +6460,7 @@ waitpid(pid_t pid, int *exitstatus, int options)
 	 * Free struct that was allocated before the call to
 	 * RegisterWaitForSingleObject()
 	 */
-	free(childinfo);
+	pfree(childinfo);
 
 	return pid;
 }