diff --git a/apps/app_chanspy.c b/apps/app_chanspy.c
index aba4c3a52a..91e7b4ca79 100644
--- a/apps/app_chanspy.c
+++ b/apps/app_chanspy.c
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ static int common_exec(struct ast_channel *chan, const struct ast_flags *flags,
 			int igrp = !mygroup;
 			char *groups[25];
 			int num_groups = 0;
-			char *dup_group;
+			char dup_group[512];
 			int x;
 			char *s;
 
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ static int common_exec(struct ast_channel *chan, const struct ast_flags *flags,
 
 			if (mygroup) {
 				if ((group = pbx_builtin_getvar_helper(peer, "SPYGROUP"))) {
-					dup_group = ast_strdupa(group);
+					ast_copy_string(dup_group, group, sizeof(dup_group));
 					num_groups = ast_app_separate_args(dup_group, ':', groups,
 									   sizeof(groups) / sizeof(groups[0]));
 				}