diff --git a/src/gc.c b/src/gc.c
index c33f1e662..30391a081 100644
--- a/src/gc.c
+++ b/src/gc.c
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ mrb_calloc(mrb_state *mrb, size_t nelem, size_t len)
       nelem <= SIZE_MAX / len) {
     size_t size;
     size = nelem * len;
-    p = mrb_realloc(mrb, 0, size);
+    p = mrb_malloc(mrb, size);
 
     memset(p, 0, size);
   }