diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index bd96bb28dc..bd963e6722 100644
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -3098,3 +3098,12 @@ David  27 Mar 2012
         boinc_api.h
     client/
         app_control.cpp
+
+David  27 Mar 2012
+    - client: fix bug in reading reason for temporary exit
+    - lib: fix a valgrind warning
+
+    lib/
+        parse.cpp
+    client/
+        app_control.cpp
diff --git a/client/app_control.cpp b/client/app_control.cpp
index 872e341a40..c8346d8959 100644
--- a/client/app_control.cpp
+++ b/client/app_control.cpp
@@ -531,9 +531,9 @@ bool ACTIVE_TASK::temporary_exit_file_present(double& x, char* buf) {
     sprintf(path, "%s/%s", slot_dir, TEMPORARY_EXIT_FILE);
     FILE* f = fopen(path, "r");
     if (!f) return false;
+    strcpy(buf, "");
     int y;
     int n = fscanf(f, "%d", &y);
-    fclose(f);
     if (n != 1 || y < 0 || y > 86400) {
         x = 300;
     } else {
@@ -542,6 +542,7 @@ bool ACTIVE_TASK::temporary_exit_file_present(double& x, char* buf) {
     fgets(buf, 256, f);     // read the \n
     fgets(buf, 256, f);
     strip_whitespace(buf);
+    fclose(f);
     return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/parse.cpp b/lib/parse.cpp
index 404b520561..de288c7377 100644
--- a/lib/parse.cpp
+++ b/lib/parse.cpp
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ void xml_escape(const char* in, char* out, int len) {
 // Note: XML unescaping never increases string length
 //
 void xml_unescape(string& in) {
-    int n = (int)in.size()+1;
+    int n = (int)in.size()+1+16;      // +16 avoids valgrind warnings
     char* buf = (char*)malloc(n);
     strcpy(buf, in.c_str());
     xml_unescape(buf);