diff --git a/lib/gshadow.c b/lib/gshadow.c
index 4fcbb227d..8f1db29c5 100644
--- a/lib/gshadow.c
+++ b/lib/gshadow.c
@@ -140,8 +140,9 @@ void endsgent (void)
 /*@observer@*//*@null@*/struct sgrp *
 fgetsgent(/*@null@*/FILE *fp)
 {
-	static size_t buflen = 0;
-	static char *buf = NULL;
+	char         *buf = NULL;
+	size_t       buflen = 0;
+	struct sgrp  *sg;
 
 	if (NULL == fp) {
 		return NULL;
@@ -152,7 +153,11 @@ fgetsgent(/*@null@*/FILE *fp)
 	if (stpsep(buf, "\n") == NULL)
 		return NULL;
 
-	return (sgetsgent (buf));
+	sg = sgetsgent(buf);
+
+	free(buf);
+
+	return sg;
 }