diff --git a/src/object.cpp b/src/object.cpp
index 6ecaf3ba5..bde1bc302 100644
--- a/src/object.cpp
+++ b/src/object.cpp
@@ -102,10 +102,11 @@ robj *createEmbeddedStringObject(const char *ptr, size_t len) {
         allocsize = sizeof(void*);
 
     size_t mvccExtraBytes = g_pserver->fActiveReplica ? sizeof(redisObjectExtended) : 0;
-    char *oB = (char*)zcalloc(sizeof(robj)+allocsize-sizeof(redisObject::m_ptr)+mvccExtraBytes, MALLOC_SHARED);
+    char *oB = (char*)zmalloc(sizeof(robj)+allocsize-sizeof(redisObject::m_ptr)+mvccExtraBytes, MALLOC_SHARED);
     robj *o = reinterpret_cast<robj*>(oB + mvccExtraBytes);
     struct sdshdr8 *sh = (sdshdr8*)(&o->m_ptr);
 
+    new (o) redisObject;
     o->type = OBJ_STRING;
     o->encoding = OBJ_ENCODING_EMBSTR;
     o->setrefcount(1);
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 5aea41b23..fa2183149 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -950,6 +950,7 @@ struct redisObjectExtended {
 };
 
 typedef struct redisObject {
+    friend redisObject *createEmbeddedStringObject(const char *ptr, size_t len);
 protected:
     redisObject() {}