diff --git a/src/exclist.c b/src/exclist.c
index 80450bb7..1be08cbe 100644
--- a/src/exclist.c
+++ b/src/exclist.c
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ cvs_addfn (struct exclude *ex, char const *pattern, int options, void *data)
   struct wordsplit ws;
   size_t i;
 
+  options |= EXCLUDE_ALLOC;
   if (wordsplit (pattern, &ws,
 		 WRDSF_NOVAR | WRDSF_NOCMD | WRDSF_SQUEEZE_DELIMS))
     return;