diff --git a/src/openvpn/argv.c b/src/openvpn/argv.c
index 419b1dc6..51dd1b22 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/argv.c
+++ b/src/openvpn/argv.c
@@ -46,12 +46,11 @@ argv_extend(struct argv *a, const size_t newcap)
     {
         char **newargv;
         size_t i;
-        ALLOC_ARRAY_CLEAR(newargv, char *, newcap);
+        ALLOC_ARRAY_CLEAR_GC(newargv, char *, newcap, &a->gc);
         for (i = 0; i < a->argc; ++i)
         {
             newargv[i] = a->argv[i];
         }
-        free(a->argv);
         a->argv = newargv;
         a->capacity = newcap;
     }
@@ -63,6 +62,7 @@ argv_init(struct argv *a)
     a->capacity = 0;
     a->argc = 0;
     a->argv = NULL;
+    a->gc = gc_new();
     argv_extend(a, 8);
 }
 
@@ -77,24 +77,21 @@ argv_new(void)
 void
 argv_free(struct argv *a)
 {
-    size_t i;
-    for (i = 0; i < a->argc; ++i)
-    {
-        free(a->argv[i]);
-    }
-    free(a->argv);
+    gc_free(&a->gc);
 }
 
 static void
 argv_reset(struct argv *a)
 {
-    size_t i;
-    for (i = 0; i < a->argc; ++i)
+    if (a->argc)
     {
-        free(a->argv[i]);
-        a->argv[i] = NULL;
+        size_t i;
+        for (i = 0; i < a->argc; ++i)
+        {
+            a->argv[i] = NULL;
+        }
+        a->argc = 0;
     }
-    a->argc = 0;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -106,7 +103,7 @@ argv_grow(struct argv *a, const size_t add)
 }
 
 static void
-argv_append(struct argv *a, char *str)  /* str must have been malloced or be NULL */
+argv_append(struct argv *a, char *str)  /* str must have been gc_malloced or be NULL */
 {
     argv_grow(a, 1);
     a->argv[a->argc++] = str;
@@ -127,7 +124,7 @@ argv_clone(const struct argv *a, const size_t headroom)
     {
         for (i = 0; i < a->argc; ++i)
         {
-            argv_append(&r, string_alloc(a->argv[i], NULL));
+            argv_append(&r, string_alloc(a->argv[i], &r.gc));
         }
     }
     return r;
@@ -138,7 +135,7 @@ argv_insert_head(const struct argv *a, const char *head)
 {
     struct argv r;
     r = argv_clone(a, 1);
-    r.argv[0] = string_alloc(head, NULL);
+    r.argv[0] = string_alloc(head, &r.gc);
     return r;
 }
 
@@ -243,7 +240,7 @@ argv_printf_arglist(struct argv *a, const char *format, va_list arglist)
     }
 
     size = adjust_power_of_2(len + 1);
-    buf = gc_malloc(size, false, &gc);
+    buf = gc_malloc(size, false, &a->gc);
     len = vsnprintf(buf, size, f, arglist);
     if (len < 0 || len >= size)
     {
@@ -255,11 +252,11 @@ argv_printf_arglist(struct argv *a, const char *format, va_list arglist)
     while (end)
     {
         *end = '\0';
-        argv_append(a, string_alloc(buf, NULL));
+        argv_append(a, buf);
         buf = end + 1;
         end = strchr(buf, delim);
     }
-    argv_append(a, string_alloc(buf, NULL));
+    argv_append(a, buf);
 
     if (a->argc != argc)
     {
@@ -303,23 +300,20 @@ argv_parse_cmd(struct argv *a, const char *s)
 {
     int nparms;
     char *parms[MAX_PARMS + 1];
-    struct gc_arena gc = gc_new();
 
     argv_reset(a);
 
-    nparms = parse_line(s, parms, MAX_PARMS, "SCRIPT-ARGV", 0, D_ARGV_PARSE_CMD, &gc);
+    nparms = parse_line(s, parms, MAX_PARMS, "SCRIPT-ARGV", 0, D_ARGV_PARSE_CMD, &a->gc);
     if (nparms)
     {
         int i;
         for (i = 0; i < nparms; ++i)
         {
-            argv_append(a, string_alloc(parms[i], NULL));
+            argv_append(a, parms[i]);
         }
     }
     else
     {
-        argv_append(a, string_alloc(s, NULL));
+        argv_append(a, string_alloc(s, &a->gc));
     }
-
-    gc_free(&gc);
 }
diff --git a/src/openvpn/argv.h b/src/openvpn/argv.h
index 2a1945e3..a1aa7ebb 100644
--- a/src/openvpn/argv.h
+++ b/src/openvpn/argv.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "buffer.h"
 
 struct argv {
+    struct gc_arena gc;
     size_t capacity;
     size_t argc;
     char **argv;
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/openvpn/test_argv.c b/tests/unit_tests/openvpn/test_argv.c
index e15e2fe5..5bfef8af 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/openvpn/test_argv.c
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/openvpn/test_argv.c
@@ -118,6 +118,28 @@ argv_printf__empty_parameter__argc_correct(void **state)
 }
 
 static void
+argv_printf__long_args__data_correct(void **state)
+{
+    int i;
+    struct argv a = argv_new();
+    const char *args[] = {
+        "good_tools_have_good_names_even_though_it_might_impair_typing",
+        "--long-opt=looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong",
+        "--long-cat=loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonger",
+        "file_with_very_descriptive_filename_that_leaves_no_questions_open.jpg.exe"
+    };
+
+    argv_printf(&a, "%s %s %s %s", args[0], args[1], args[2], args[3]);
+    assert_int_equal(a.argc, 4);
+    for (i = 0; i < a.argc; i++)
+    {
+        assert_string_equal(a.argv[i], args[i]);
+    }
+
+    argv_free(&a);
+}
+
+static void
 argv_parse_cmd__command_string__argc_correct(void **state)
 {
     struct argv a = argv_new();
@@ -233,6 +255,7 @@ main(void)
         cmocka_unit_test(argv_printf__group_sep_in_arg__fail_no_ouput),
         cmocka_unit_test(argv_printf__combined_path_with_spaces__argc_correct),
         cmocka_unit_test(argv_printf__empty_parameter__argc_correct),
+        cmocka_unit_test(argv_printf__long_args__data_correct),
         cmocka_unit_test(argv_parse_cmd__command_string__argc_correct),
         cmocka_unit_test(argv_parse_cmd__command_and_extra_options__argc_correct),
         cmocka_unit_test(argv_printf_cat__used_twice__argc_correct),