diff --git a/src/news_gui.cpp b/src/news_gui.cpp
--- a/src/news_gui.cpp
+++ b/src/news_gui.cpp
@@ -726,7 +726,7 @@ CommandCost CmdCustomNewsItem(TileIndex 
 	if (company != INVALID_OWNER && company != _local_company) return CommandCost();
 
 	if (flags & DC_EXEC) {
-		char *news = strdup(text);
+		char *news = stredup(text);
 		SetDParamStr(0, news);
 		AddNewsItem(STR_NEWS_CUSTOM_ITEM, type, NF_NORMAL, reftype1, p2, NR_NONE, UINT32_MAX, news);
 	}