diff --git a/console/console_ext.c b/console/console_ext.c
index fa55bbe726..4161324ed5 100644
--- a/console/console_ext.c
+++ b/console/console_ext.c
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ void rarch_console_rsound_stop(void)
 wchar_t * rarch_convert_char_to_wchar(const char * str)
 {
    unsigned long dwNum = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, str, -1, NULL, 0);
-   wchar_t * w_str = new wchar_t[dwNum];
+   wchar_t * w_str = (wchar_t*)malloc(sizeof(wchar_t*) * dwNum);
    MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, 0, str, -1, w_str, dwNum);
    return w_str;
 }