diff --git a/tools-util.c b/tools-util.c
index 5b0c1bf5..8e25cac8 100644
--- a/tools-util.c
+++ b/tools-util.c
@@ -51,36 +51,6 @@ char *mprintf(const char *fmt, ...)
 	return str;
 }
 
-void *xcalloc(size_t count, size_t size)
-{
-	void *p = calloc(count, size);
-
-	if (!p)
-		die("insufficient memory");
-
-	return p;
-}
-
-void *xmalloc(size_t size)
-{
-	void *p = malloc(size);
-
-	if (!p)
-		die("insufficient memory");
-
-	memset(p, 0, size);
-	return p;
-}
-
-void *xrealloc(void *p, size_t size)
-{
-	p = realloc(p, size);
-	if (!p)
-		die("insufficient memory");
-
-	return p;
-}
-
 void xpread(int fd, void *buf, size_t count, off_t offset)
 {
 	while (count) {
diff --git a/tools-util.h b/tools-util.h
index 7a04c108..174b4e0e 100644
--- a/tools-util.h
+++ b/tools-util.h
@@ -28,15 +28,42 @@ void die(const char *, ...)
 	__attribute__ ((format (printf, 1, 2))) noreturn;
 char *mprintf(const char *, ...)
 	__attribute__ ((format (printf, 1, 2)));
-void *xcalloc(size_t, size_t);
-void *xmalloc(size_t);
-void *xrealloc(void *, size_t);
 void xpread(int, void *, size_t, off_t);
 void xpwrite(int, const void *, size_t, off_t, const char *);
 struct stat xfstatat(int, const char *, int);
 struct stat xfstat(int);
 struct stat xstat(const char *);
 
+static inline void *xmalloc(size_t size)
+{
+	void *p = malloc(size);
+
+	if (!p)
+		die("insufficient memory");
+
+	memset(p, 0, size);
+	return p;
+}
+
+static inline void *xcalloc(size_t count, size_t size)
+{
+	void *p = calloc(count, size);
+
+	if (!p)
+		die("insufficient memory");
+
+	return p;
+}
+
+static inline void *xrealloc(void *p, size_t size)
+{
+	p = realloc(p, size);
+	if (!p)
+		die("insufficient memory");
+
+	return p;
+}
+
 #define xopenat(_dirfd, _path, ...)					\
 ({									\
 	int _fd = openat((_dirfd), (_path), __VA_ARGS__);		\