diff --git a/util/epist/epist.cc b/util/epist/epist.cc
index 410656d6..f8305943 100644
--- a/util/epist/epist.cc
+++ b/util/epist/epist.cc
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@ bool epist::handleSignal(int sig) {
   case SIGHUP:
     cout << "epist: Restarting on request.\n";
     execvp(_argv[0], _argv);
-    execvp(basename(_argv[0]), _argv);
+    string base(basename(_argv[0]));
+    execvp(base.c_str(), _argv);
     return false;  // this should be unreachable
 
   case SIGTERM: