diff --git a/include/nickel/xalloc.h b/include/nickel/xalloc.h
index 563c383..122f8d8 100644
--- a/include/nickel/xalloc.h
+++ b/include/nickel/xalloc.h
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 void* ni_xmalloc(size_t size);
-void ni_free(void* ptr);
 
 void* ni_xcalloc(size_t nmemb,size_t size);
 void* ni_xrealloc(void* ptr, size_t size);
diff --git a/src/nickel/xalloc.c b/src/nickel/xalloc.c
index c48cba0..6d2e2b3 100644
--- a/src/nickel/xalloc.c
+++ b/src/nickel/xalloc.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
 
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
@@ -8,25 +9,56 @@
 #include "nickel/xalloc.h"
 
 void* ni_xmalloc(size_t size) {
+    void* retptr = malloc(size);
 
-}
-
-void ni_free(void* ptr) {
-
+    if (retptr != NULL) {
+        return retptr;
+    } else {
+        perror("xmalloc failed");
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }    
 }
 
 void* ni_xcalloc(size_t nmemb,size_t size) {
+    void* retptr = calloc(nmemb, size);
 
+    if (retptr != NULL) {
+        return retptr;
+    } else {
+        perror("xcalloc failed");
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }    
 }
 
 void* ni_xrealloc(void* ptr, size_t size) {
+    void* retptr = realloc(ptr, size);
 
+    if (retptr != NULL) {
+        return retptr;
+    } else {
+        perror("xrealloc failed");
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }    
 }
 
 char* ni_xstrdup(const char *s) {
-    
+    void* dupstr = strdup(s);
+
+    if (dupstr != NULL) {
+        return dupstr;
+    } else {
+        perror("xdupstr failed");
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
 }
 
 char* ni_xstrndup(const char s[], size_t n) {
+    void* dupstr = strndup(s, n);
 
+    if (dupstr != NULL) {
+        return dupstr;
+    } else {
+        perror("xdupstr failed");
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file