diff --git a/e2fsprogs/mke2fs.c b/e2fsprogs/mke2fs.c
index ea6afb9..687f185 100644
--- a/e2fsprogs/mke2fs.c
+++ b/e2fsprogs/mke2fs.c
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@
 	}
 	/* Allocate the zeroizing buffer if necessary */
 	if (!buf) {
-		buf = xcalloc(fs->blocksize, STRIDE_LENGTH);
+		buf = xzalloc(fs->blocksize * STRIDE_LENGTH);
 	}
 	/* OK, do the write loop */
 	next_update = 0;