diff --git a/src/cache.c b/src/cache.c
index cb80cde..abab9ed 100644
--- a/src/cache.c
+++ b/src/cache.c
@@ -17,13 +17,16 @@
 #include "dnsmasq.h"
 
 static struct crec *cache_head = NULL, *cache_tail = NULL, **hash_table = NULL;
-#ifdef HAVE_DHCP
-static struct crec *dhcp_spare = NULL;
-#endif
+static struct crec *config_spare = NULL;
 static struct crec *new_chain = NULL;
 static int insert_error;
 static union bigname *big_free = NULL;
 static int bignames_left, hash_size;
+struct nameblock {
+  struct nameblock *next;
+  unsigned int last, index;
+  char data[NAMEBLOCK_CHARS];
+} *hostblocks = NULL;
 
 static void make_non_terminals(struct crec *source);
 static struct crec *really_insert(char *name, union all_addr *addr, unsigned short class,
@@ -192,6 +195,61 @@ void cache_init(void)
   rehash(daemon->cachesize);
 }
 
+static struct crec *get_config_crec(void)
+{
+  struct crec *ret;
+  
+  if (config_spare)
+    {
+      ret = config_spare;
+      config_spare = config_spare->next;
+    }
+  else
+    ret = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC);
+
+  return ret;
+}
+
+static void free_config_crec(struct crec *p)
+{
+  p->next = config_spare;
+  config_spare  = p;
+}
+
+static char *store_name(unsigned int namelen, unsigned int index)
+{
+  struct nameblock *block;
+  char *ret = NULL;
+
+  for (block = hostblocks; block; block = block->next)
+    if (block->index == index && NAMEBLOCK_CHARS - block->last >= namelen)
+      break;
+
+  if (!block && ((block = whine_malloc(sizeof(struct nameblock)))))
+    {
+      block->next = hostblocks;
+      block->index = index;
+      hostblocks = block;
+    }
+  
+  if (block && NAMEBLOCK_CHARS - block->last >= namelen)
+    {
+      ret = &block->data[block->last];
+      block->last += namelen;
+    }
+
+  return ret;
+}
+
+static void free_names(unsigned int index)
+{
+  struct nameblock *block;
+
+  for (block = hostblocks; block; block = block->next)
+    if (index == UID_NONE || block->index == index)
+      block->last = 0;
+}
+
 /* In most cases, we create the hash table once here by calling this with (hash_table == NULL)
    but if the hosts file(s) are big (some people have 50000 ad-block entries), the table
    will be much too small, so the hosts reading code calls rehash every 1000 addresses, to
@@ -441,12 +499,14 @@ unsigned int cache_remove_uid(const unsigned int uid)
 	if ((crecp->flags & (F_HOSTS | F_DHCP | F_CONFIG)) && crecp->uid == uid)
 	  {
 	    *up = tmp;
-	    free(crecp);
+	    free_config_crec(crecp);
 	    removed++;
 	  }
 	else
 	  up = &crecp->hash_next;
       }
+
+  free_names(uid);
   
   return removed;
 }
@@ -1261,7 +1321,7 @@ static void add_hosts_entry(struct crec *cache, union all_addr *addr, int addrle
   while ((lookup = cache_find_by_name(lookup, cache_get_name(cache), 0, cache->flags & (F_IPV4 | F_IPV6))))
     if ((lookup->flags & F_HOSTS) && memcmp(&lookup->addr, addr, addrlen) == 0)
       {
-	free(cache);
+	free_config_crec(cache);
 	return;
       }
     
@@ -1384,13 +1444,13 @@ int read_hostsfile(char *filename, unsigned int index, int cache_size, struct cr
     {
       if (inet_pton(AF_INET, token, &addr) > 0)
 	{
-	  flags = F_HOSTS | F_IMMORTAL | F_FORWARD | F_REVERSE | F_IPV4;
+	  flags = F_NAMEP | F_HOSTS | F_IMMORTAL | F_FORWARD | F_REVERSE | F_IPV4;
 	  addrlen = INADDRSZ;
 	  domain_suffix = get_domain(addr.addr4);
 	}
       else if (inet_pton(AF_INET6, token, &addr) > 0)
 	{
-	  flags = F_HOSTS | F_IMMORTAL | F_FORWARD | F_REVERSE | F_IPV6;
+	  flags = F_NAMEP | F_HOSTS | F_IMMORTAL | F_FORWARD | F_REVERSE | F_IPV6;
 	  addrlen = IN6ADDRSZ;
 	  domain_suffix = get_domain6(&addr.addr6);
 	}
@@ -1424,27 +1484,37 @@ int read_hostsfile(char *filename, unsigned int index, int cache_size, struct cr
 	  if ((canon = canonicalise(token, &nomem)))
 	    {
 	      /* If set, add a version of the name with a default domain appended */
-	      if (option_bool(OPT_EXPAND) && domain_suffix && !fqdn && 
-		  (cache = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_BARE_CREC + strlen(canon) + 2 + strlen(domain_suffix))))
+	      if (option_bool(OPT_EXPAND) && domain_suffix && !fqdn && (cache = get_config_crec()))
 		{
-		  strcpy(cache->name.sname, canon);
-		  strcat(cache->name.sname, ".");
-		  strcat(cache->name.sname, domain_suffix);
-		  cache->flags = flags;
-		  cache->ttd = daemon->local_ttl;
-		  add_hosts_entry(cache, &addr, addrlen, index, rhash, hashsz);
-		  name_count++;
-		  names_done++;
+		  if (!(cache->name.namep = store_name(strlen(canon) + 2 + strlen(domain_suffix), index)))
+		    free_config_crec(cache);
+		  else
+		    {
+		      strcpy(cache->name.namep, canon);
+		      strcat(cache->name.namep, ".");
+		      strcat(cache->name.namep, domain_suffix);
+		      cache->flags = flags;
+		      cache->ttd = daemon->local_ttl;
+		      add_hosts_entry(cache, &addr, addrlen, index, rhash, hashsz);
+		      name_count++;
+		      names_done++;
+		    }
 		}
-	      if ((cache = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_BARE_CREC + strlen(canon) + 1)))
+	      if ((cache = get_config_crec()))
 		{
-		  strcpy(cache->name.sname, canon);
-		  cache->flags = flags;
-		  cache->ttd = daemon->local_ttl;
-		  add_hosts_entry(cache, &addr, addrlen, index, rhash, hashsz);
-		  name_count++;
-		  names_done++;
+		  if (!(cache->name.namep = store_name(strlen(canon) + 1, index)))
+		    free_config_crec(cache);
+		  else
+		    {
+		      strcpy(cache->name.namep, canon);
+		      cache->flags = flags;
+		      cache->ttd = daemon->local_ttl;
+		      add_hosts_entry(cache, &addr, addrlen, index, rhash, hashsz);
+		      name_count++;
+		      names_done++;
+		    }
 		}
+	      
 	      free(canon);
 	      
 	    }
@@ -1495,7 +1565,7 @@ void cache_reload(void)
 	if (cache->flags & (F_HOSTS | F_CONFIG))
 	  {
 	    *up = cache->hash_next;
-	    free(cache);
+	    free_config_crec(cache);
 	  }
 	else if (!(cache->flags & F_DHCP))
 	  {
@@ -1510,11 +1580,13 @@ void cache_reload(void)
 	else
 	  up = &cache->hash_next;
       }
+
+  free_names(UID_NONE); /* free everything */
   
   /* Add locally-configured CNAMEs to the cache */
   for (a = daemon->cnames; a; a = a->next)
     if (a->alias[1] != '*' &&
-	((cache = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC))))
+	((cache = get_config_crec())))
       {
 	cache->flags = F_FORWARD | F_NAMEP | F_CNAME | F_IMMORTAL | F_CONFIG;
 	cache->ttd = a->ttl;
@@ -1528,25 +1600,30 @@ void cache_reload(void)
   
 #ifdef HAVE_DNSSEC
   for (ds = daemon->ds; ds; ds = ds->next)
-    if ((cache = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC)) &&
-	(cache->addr.ds.keydata = blockdata_alloc(ds->digest, ds->digestlen)))
+    if ((cache = get_config_crec()))
       {
-	cache->flags = F_FORWARD | F_IMMORTAL | F_DS | F_CONFIG | F_NAMEP;
-	cache->ttd = daemon->local_ttl;
-	cache->name.namep = ds->name;
-	cache->uid = ds->class;
-	if (ds->digestlen != 0)
-	  {
-	    cache->addr.ds.keylen = ds->digestlen;
-	    cache->addr.ds.algo = ds->algo;
-	    cache->addr.ds.keytag = ds->keytag;
-	    cache->addr.ds.digest = ds->digest_type;
-	  }
-	else
-	  cache->flags |= F_NEG | F_DNSSECOK | F_NO_RR;
 	
-	cache_hash(cache);
-	make_non_terminals(cache);
+	if (!(cache->addr.ds.keydata = blockdata_alloc(ds->digest, ds->digestlen)))
+	  free_config_crec(cache);
+	else
+	  {
+	    cache->flags = F_FORWARD | F_IMMORTAL | F_DS | F_CONFIG | F_NAMEP;
+	    cache->ttd = daemon->local_ttl;
+	    cache->name.namep = ds->name;
+	    cache->uid = ds->class;
+	    if (ds->digestlen != 0)
+	      {
+		cache->addr.ds.keylen = ds->digestlen;
+		cache->addr.ds.algo = ds->algo;
+		cache->addr.ds.keytag = ds->keytag;
+		cache->addr.ds.digest = ds->digest_type;
+	      }
+	    else
+	      cache->flags |= F_NEG | F_DNSSECOK | F_NO_RR;
+	    
+	    cache_hash(cache);
+	    make_non_terminals(cache);
+	  }
       }
 #endif
   
@@ -1561,7 +1638,7 @@ void cache_reload(void)
     for (nl = hr->names; nl; nl = nl->next)
       {
 	if ((hr->flags & HR_4) &&
-	    (cache = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC)))
+	    (cache = get_config_crec()))
 	  {
 	    cache->name.namep = nl->name;
 	    cache->ttd = hr->ttl;
@@ -1570,7 +1647,7 @@ void cache_reload(void)
 	  }
 
 	if ((hr->flags & HR_6) &&
-	    (cache = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC)))
+	    (cache = get_config_crec()))
 	  {
 	    cache->name.namep = nl->name;
 	    cache->ttd = hr->ttl;
@@ -1662,8 +1739,7 @@ void cache_unhash_dhcp(void)
       if (cache->flags & F_DHCP)
 	{
 	  *up = cache->hash_next;
-	  cache->next = dhcp_spare;
-	  dhcp_spare = cache;
+	  free_config_crec(cache);
 	}
       else
 	up = &cache->hash_next;
@@ -1734,12 +1810,7 @@ void cache_add_dhcp_entry(char *host_name, int prot,
   else
     flags |= F_REVERSE;
   
-  if ((crec = dhcp_spare))
-    dhcp_spare = dhcp_spare->next;
-  else /* need new one */
-    crec = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC);
-  
-  if (crec) /* malloc may fail */
+  if ((crec = get_config_crec()))
     {
       crec->flags = flags | F_NAMEP | F_DHCP | F_FORWARD;
       if (ttd == 0)
@@ -1786,15 +1857,7 @@ static void make_non_terminals(struct crec *source)
 	  hostname_isequal(name, cache_get_name(crecp)))
 	{
 	  *up = crecp->hash_next;
-#ifdef HAVE_DHCP
-	  if (type & F_DHCP)
-	    {
-	      crecp->next = dhcp_spare;
-	      dhcp_spare = crecp;
-	    }
-	  else
-#endif
-	    free(crecp);
+	  free_config_crec(crecp);
 	  break;
 	}
       else
@@ -1827,17 +1890,7 @@ static void make_non_terminals(struct crec *source)
 	  continue;
 	}
       
-#ifdef HAVE_DHCP
-      if ((source->flags & F_DHCP) && dhcp_spare)
-	{
-	  crecp = dhcp_spare;
-	  dhcp_spare = dhcp_spare->next;
-	}
-      else
-#endif
-	crecp = whine_malloc(SIZEOF_POINTER_CREC);
-
-      if (crecp)
+      if ((crecp = get_config_crec()))
 	{
 	  crecp->flags = (source->flags | F_NAMEP) & ~(F_IPV4 | F_IPV6 | F_CNAME | F_RR | F_DNSKEY | F_DS | F_REVERSE);
 	  if (!(crecp->flags & F_IMMORTAL))
@@ -2166,9 +2219,9 @@ static char *querystr(char *desc, unsigned short type)
   unsigned int i;
   int len = 10; /* strlen("type=xxxxx") */
   const char *types = NULL;
-  static char *buff = NULL;
-  static int bufflen = 0;
-
+  static struct iovec buff = { NULL, 0 };
+  char *buffp;
+  
   for (i = 0; i < (sizeof(typestr)/sizeof(typestr[0])); i++)
     if (typestr[i].type == type)
       {
@@ -2183,37 +2236,28 @@ static char *querystr(char *desc, unsigned short type)
        len += strlen(desc);
     }
   len++; /* terminator */
-  
-  if (!buff || bufflen < len)
-    {
-      if (buff)
-	free(buff);
-      else if (len < 20)
-	len = 20;
-      
-      buff = whine_malloc(len);
-      bufflen = len;
-    }
 
-  if (buff)
+  if (!expand_buf(&buff, len))
+    return "";
+
+  buffp = buff.iov_base;
+  
+  if (desc)
     {
-      if (desc)
-	{
-	  if (types)
-	    sprintf(buff, "%s[%s]", desc, types);
-	  else
-	    sprintf(buff, "%s[type=%d]", desc, type);
-	}
+      if (types)
+	sprintf(buffp, "%s[%s]", desc, types);
       else
-	{
-	  if (types)
-	    sprintf(buff, "<%s>", types);
-	  else
-	    sprintf(buff, "<type=%d>", type);
-	}
+	sprintf(buffp, "%s[type=%d]", desc, type);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      if (types)
+	sprintf(buffp, "<%s>", types);
+      else
+	sprintf(buffp, "<type=%d>", type);
     }
   
-  return buff ? buff : "";
+  return buffp;
 }
 
 static char *edestr(int ede)
diff --git a/src/config.h b/src/config.h
index b18754d..a73c134 100644
--- a/src/config.h
+++ b/src/config.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #define TCP_BACKLOG 32  /* kernel backlog limit for TCP connections */
 #define EDNS_PKTSZ 1232 /* default max EDNS.0 UDP packet from from  /dnsflagday.net/2020 */
 #define KEYBLOCK_LEN 40 /* choose to minimise fragmentation when storing DNSSEC keys */
+#define NAMEBLOCK_CHARS 1500 /* quantum of memory allocation for names from /etc/hosts */
 #define DNSSEC_LIMIT_WORK 40 /* Max number of queries to validate one question */
 #define DNSSEC_LIMIT_SIG_FAIL 20 /* Number of signature that can fail to validate in one answer */
 #define DNSSEC_LIMIT_CRYPTO 200 /* max no. of crypto operations to validate one query. */