diff --git a/ncurses/trace/varargs.c b/ncurses/trace/varargs.c
index 66252d8..7b9533b 100644
--- a/ncurses/trace/varargs.c
+++ b/ncurses/trace/varargs.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /****************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2001-2008,2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.              *
+ * Copyright 2020,2023 Thomas E. Dickey                                     *
+ * Copyright 2001-2008,2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.                  *
  *                                                                          *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a  *
  * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the            *
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@
 
 #include <ctype.h>
 
-MODULE_ID("$Id: varargs.c,v 1.11 2012/10/27 21:03:28 tom Exp $")
+MODULE_ID("$Id: varargs.c,v 1.13 2023/06/24 13:41:46 tom Exp $")
 
 #ifdef TRACE
 
@@ -58,18 +59,16 @@
 NCURSES_EXPORT(char *)
 _nc_varargs(const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
-    static char dummy[] = "";
-
     char buffer[BUFSIZ];
     const char *param;
     int n;
 
     if (fmt == 0 || *fmt == '\0')
-	return dummy;
+	return NULL;
     if (MyLength == 0)
 	MyBuffer = typeMalloc(char, MyLength = BUFSIZ);
     if (MyBuffer == 0)
-	return dummy;
+	return NULL;
     *MyBuffer = '\0';
 
     while (*fmt != '\0') {
@@ -184,7 +183,7 @@
 	}
     }
 
-    return (MyBuffer ? MyBuffer : dummy);
+    return (MyBuffer ? MyBuffer : NULL);
 }
 #else
 EMPTY_MODULE(_nc_varargs)