diff --git a/src/ini_load.cpp b/src/ini_load.cpp
--- a/src/ini_load.cpp
+++ b/src/ini_load.cpp
@@ -19,12 +19,10 @@
  * Construct a new in-memory item of an Ini file.
  * @param parent the group we belong to
  * @param name   the name of the item
- * @param last   the last element of the name of the item
  */
-IniItem::IniItem(IniGroup *parent, const char *name, const char *last) : next(nullptr), value(nullptr), comment(nullptr)
+IniItem::IniItem(IniGroup *parent, const std::string &name) : next(nullptr)
 {
-	this->name = stredup(name, last);
-	str_validate(this->name, this->name + strlen(this->name));
+	this->name = str_validate(name);
 
 	*parent->last_item = this;
 	parent->last_item = &this->next;
@@ -33,10 +31,6 @@ IniItem::IniItem(IniGroup *parent, const
 /** Free everything we loaded. */
 IniItem::~IniItem()
 {
-	free(this->name);
-	free(this->value);
-	free(this->comment);
-
 	delete this->next;
 }
 
@@ -46,20 +40,21 @@ IniItem::~IniItem()
  */
 void IniItem::SetValue(const char *value)
 {
-	free(this->value);
-	this->value = stredup(value);
+	if (value == nullptr) {
+		this->value.reset();
+	} else {
+		this->value.emplace(value);
+	}
 }
 
 /**
  * Construct a new in-memory group of an Ini file.
  * @param parent the file we belong to
  * @param name   the name of the group
- * @param last   the last element of the name of the group
  */
-IniGroup::IniGroup(IniLoadFile *parent, const char *name, const char *last) : next(nullptr), type(IGT_VARIABLES), item(nullptr), comment(nullptr)
+IniGroup::IniGroup(IniLoadFile *parent, const std::string &name) : next(nullptr), type(IGT_VARIABLES), item(nullptr)
 {
-	this->name = stredup(name, last);
-	str_validate(this->name, this->name + strlen(this->name));
+	this->name = str_validate(name);
 
 	this->last_item = &this->item;
 	*parent->last_group = this;
@@ -67,7 +62,7 @@ IniGroup::IniGroup(IniLoadFile *parent, 
 
 	if (parent->list_group_names != nullptr) {
 		for (uint i = 0; parent->list_group_names[i] != nullptr; i++) {
-			if (strcmp(this->name, parent->list_group_names[i]) == 0) {
+			if (this->name == parent->list_group_names[i]) {
 				this->type = IGT_LIST;
 				return;
 			}
@@ -75,7 +70,7 @@ IniGroup::IniGroup(IniLoadFile *parent, 
 	}
 	if (parent->seq_group_names != nullptr) {
 		for (uint i = 0; parent->seq_group_names[i] != nullptr; i++) {
-			if (strcmp(this->name, parent->seq_group_names[i]) == 0) {
+			if (this->name == parent->seq_group_names[i]) {
 				this->type = IGT_SEQUENCE;
 				return;
 			}
@@ -86,9 +81,6 @@ IniGroup::IniGroup(IniLoadFile *parent, 
 /** Free everything we loaded. */
 IniGroup::~IniGroup()
 {
-	free(this->name);
-	free(this->comment);
-
 	delete this->item;
 	delete this->next;
 }
@@ -100,16 +92,16 @@ IniGroup::~IniGroup()
  * @param create whether to create an item when not found or not.
  * @return the requested item or nullptr if not found.
  */
-IniItem *IniGroup::GetItem(const char *name, bool create)
+IniItem *IniGroup::GetItem(const std::string &name, bool create)
 {
 	for (IniItem *item = this->item; item != nullptr; item = item->next) {
-		if (strcmp(item->name, name) == 0) return item;
+		if (item->name == name) return item;
 	}
 
 	if (!create) return nullptr;
 
 	/* otherwise make a new one */
-	return new IniItem(this, name, nullptr);
+	return new IniItem(this, name);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -129,7 +121,6 @@ void IniGroup::Clear()
  */
 IniLoadFile::IniLoadFile(const char * const *list_group_names, const char * const *seq_group_names) :
 		group(nullptr),
-		comment(nullptr),
 		list_group_names(list_group_names),
 		seq_group_names(seq_group_names)
 {
@@ -139,7 +130,6 @@ IniLoadFile::IniLoadFile(const char * co
 /** Free everything we loaded. */
 IniLoadFile::~IniLoadFile()
 {
-	free(this->comment);
 	delete this->group;
 }
 
@@ -147,26 +137,21 @@ IniLoadFile::~IniLoadFile()
  * Get the group with the given name. If it doesn't exist
  * and \a create_new is \c true create a new group.
  * @param name name of the group to find.
- * @param len  the maximum length of said name (\c 0 means length of the string).
  * @param create_new Allow creation of group if it does not exist.
  * @return The requested group if it exists or was created, else \c nullptr.
  */
-IniGroup *IniLoadFile::GetGroup(const char *name, size_t len, bool create_new)
+IniGroup *IniLoadFile::GetGroup(const std::string &name, bool create_new)
 {
-	if (len == 0) len = strlen(name);
-
 	/* does it exist already? */
 	for (IniGroup *group = this->group; group != nullptr; group = group->next) {
-		if (!strncmp(group->name, name, len) && group->name[len] == 0) {
-			return group;
-		}
+		if (group->name == name) return group;
 	}
 
 	if (!create_new) return nullptr;
 
 	/* otherwise make a new one */
-	IniGroup *group = new IniGroup(this, name, name + len - 1);
-	group->comment = stredup("\n");
+	IniGroup *group = new IniGroup(this, name);
+	group->comment = "\n";
 	return group;
 }
 
@@ -182,7 +167,7 @@ void IniLoadFile::RemoveGroup(const char
 
 	/* does it exist already? */
 	for (group = this->group; group != nullptr; prev = group, group = group->next) {
-		if (strncmp(group->name, name, len) == 0) {
+		if (group->name.compare(0, len, name) == 0) {
 			break;
 		}
 	}
@@ -260,17 +245,17 @@ void IniLoadFile::LoadFromDisk(const cha
 				e--;
 			}
 			s++; // skip [
-			group = new IniGroup(this, s, e - 1);
+			group = new IniGroup(this, std::string(s, e - s));
 			if (comment_size != 0) {
-				group->comment = stredup(comment, comment + comment_size - 1);
+				group->comment.assign(comment, comment_size);
 				comment_size = 0;
 			}
 		} else if (group != nullptr) {
 			if (group->type == IGT_SEQUENCE) {
 				/* A sequence group, use the line as item name without further interpretation. */
-				IniItem *item = new IniItem(group, buffer, e - 1);
+				IniItem *item = new IniItem(group, std::string(buffer, e - buffer));
 				if (comment_size) {
-					item->comment = stredup(comment, comment + comment_size - 1);
+					item->comment.assign(comment, comment_size);
 					comment_size = 0;
 				}
 				continue;
@@ -286,9 +271,9 @@ void IniLoadFile::LoadFromDisk(const cha
 			}
 
 			/* it's an item in an existing group */
-			IniItem *item = new IniItem(group, s, t - 1);
+			IniItem *item = new IniItem(group, std::string(s, t - s));
 			if (comment_size != 0) {
-				item->comment = stredup(comment, comment + comment_size - 1);
+				item->comment.assign(comment, comment_size);
 				comment_size = 0;
 			}
 
@@ -304,8 +289,11 @@ void IniLoadFile::LoadFromDisk(const cha
 			*e = '\0';
 
 			/* If the value was not quoted and empty, it must be nullptr */
-			item->value = (!quoted && e == t) ? nullptr : stredup(t);
-			if (item->value != nullptr) str_validate(item->value, item->value + strlen(item->value));
+			if (!quoted && e == t) {
+				item->value.reset();
+			} else {
+				item->value = str_validate(std::string(t));
+			}
 		} else {
 			/* it's an orphan item */
 			this->ReportFileError("ini: '", buffer, "' outside of group");
@@ -313,7 +301,7 @@ void IniLoadFile::LoadFromDisk(const cha
 	}
 
 	if (comment_size > 0) {
-		this->comment = stredup(comment, comment + comment_size - 1);
+		this->comment.assign(comment, comment_size);
 		comment_size = 0;
 	}