diff --git a/erlang/Makefile.am b/erlang/Makefile.am
index b036b3604..c7a52a9e7 100644
--- a/erlang/Makefile.am
+++ b/erlang/Makefile.am
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ erl_guestfs_LDADD = \
 	$(ERLANG_LIB_DIR_erl_interface)/lib/liberl_interface.a \
 	$(ERLANG_LIB_DIR_erl_interface)/lib/libei.a \
 	-lpthread \
+	$(top_builddir)/src/libutils.la \
 	$(top_builddir)/src/libguestfs.la \
+	$(LIBXML2_LIBS) \
+	$(LIBVIRT_LIBS) \
 	../gnulib/lib/libgnu.la
 
 TESTS_ENVIRONMENT = $(top_builddir)/run --test
diff --git a/erlang/erl-guestfs-proto.c b/erlang/erl-guestfs-proto.c
index 99382137d..ee77c887e 100644
--- a/erlang/erl-guestfs-proto.c
+++ b/erlang/erl-guestfs-proto.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /* libguestfs Erlang bindings.
- * Copyright (C) 2011 Red Hat Inc.
+ * Copyright (C) 2011-2013 Red Hat Inc.
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ extern char **get_string_list (ETERM *term);
 extern int get_bool (ETERM *term);
 extern int get_int (ETERM *term);
 extern int64_t get_int64 (ETERM *term);
-extern void free_strings (char **r);
 
 /* This stops things getting out of hand, but also lets us detect
  * protocol problems quickly.
@@ -314,13 +313,3 @@ get_int64 (ETERM *term)
     return -1;
   }
 }
-
-void
-free_strings (char **r)
-{
-  size_t i;
-
-  for (i = 0; r[i] != NULL; ++i)
-    free (r[i]);
-  free (r);
-}
diff --git a/generator/erlang.ml b/generator/erlang.ml
index 6242338df..e7e00124f 100644
--- a/generator/erlang.ml
+++ b/generator/erlang.ml
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@ instead of erl_interface.
 */
 
 #include \"guestfs.h\"
+#include \"guestfs-internal-frontend.h\"
 
 extern guestfs_h *g;
 
@@ -214,7 +215,6 @@ extern char **get_string_list (ETERM *term);
 extern int get_bool (ETERM *term);
 extern int get_int (ETERM *term);
 extern int64_t get_int64 (ETERM *term);
-extern void free_strings (char **r);
 
 #define ARG(i) (ERL_TUPLE_ELEMENT(message,(i)+1))
 
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ extern void free_strings (char **r);
         | OptString n | FileIn n | FileOut n | Key n ->
             pr "  free (%s);\n" n
         | StringList n | DeviceList n ->
-            pr "  free_strings (%s);\n" n;
+            pr "  guestfs___free_string_list (%s);\n" n;
         | Bool _ | Int _ | Int64 _ | Pointer _ | BufferIn _ -> ()
       ) args;
       List.iter (
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ extern void free_strings (char **r);
             let uc_n = String.uppercase n in
             pr "  if ((optargs_s.bitmask & %s_%s_BITMASK))\n"
               c_optarg_prefix uc_n;
-            pr "    free_strings ((char **) optargs_s.%s);\n" n
+            pr "    guestfs___free_string_list ((char **) optargs_s.%s);\n" n
       ) optargs;
 
       (match errcode_of_ret ret with
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ extern void free_strings (char **r);
            pr "  return rt;\n"
        | RStringList _ ->
            pr "  ETERM *rt = make_string_list (r);\n";
-           pr "  free_strings (r);\n\n";
+           pr "  guestfs___free_string_list (r);\n\n";
            pr "  return rt;\n"
        | RStruct (_, typ) ->
            pr "  ETERM *rt = make_%s (r);\n" typ;
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ extern void free_strings (char **r);
            pr "  return rt;\n"
        | RHashtable _ ->
            pr "  ETERM *rt = make_table (r);\n";
-           pr "  free_strings (r);\n";
+           pr "  guestfs___free_string_list (r);\n";
            pr "  return rt;\n"
        | RBufferOut _ ->
            pr "  ETERM *rt = erl_mk_estring (r, size);\n";