diff --git a/box.c b/box.c
index 53669d3b..56403991 100644
--- a/box.c
+++ b/box.c
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ static void boxAppend(uiBox *ss, uiControl *c, int stretchy)
 
 	if (b->len >= b->cap) {
 		b->cap += boxCapGrow;
-		b->controls = (boxControl *) uiRealloc(b->controls, b->cap * sizeof (boxControl), "boxControl[]");
+		b->controls = (boxControl *) uiRealloc(b->controls, b->cap * sizeof (boxControl));
 	}
 	b->controls[b->len].c = c;
 	b->controls[b->len].stretchy = stretchy;
diff --git a/darwin/alloc.m b/darwin/alloc.m
index c445aaee..33bdfea0 100644
--- a/darwin/alloc.m
+++ b/darwin/alloc.m
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #import <stdio.h>
 #import "uipriv_darwin.h"
 
-void *uiAlloc(size_t size, const char *type)
+void *uiAlloc(size_t size)
 {
 	void *out;
 
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ void *uiAlloc(size_t size, const char *type)
 	return out;
 }
 
-void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size, const char *type)
+void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size)
 {
 	void *out;
 
 	if (p == NULL)
-		return uiAlloc(size, type);
+		return uiAlloc(size);
 	out = realloc(p, size);
 	if (out == NULL) {
 		fprintf(stderr, "memory exhausted in uiRealloc() reallocating %s\n", type);
diff --git a/uipriv.h b/uipriv.h
index 759bd629..7d70d381 100644
--- a/uipriv.h
+++ b/uipriv.h
@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@
 
 extern uiInitOptions options;
 
-// TODO remove the type name arguments
-extern void *uiAlloc(size_t, const char *);
-#define uiNew(T) ((T *) uiAlloc(sizeof (T), #T ))
-extern void *uiRealloc(void *, size_t, const char *);
+extern void *uiAlloc(size_t);
+#define uiNew(T) ((T *) uiAlloc(sizeof (T)))
+extern void *uiRealloc(void *, size_t);
 extern void uiFree(void *);
 
 extern void complain(const char *, ...);
diff --git a/unix/alloc.c b/unix/alloc.c
index 2021feb4..afde1741 100644
--- a/unix/alloc.c
+++ b/unix/alloc.c
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include "uipriv_unix.h"
 
-void *uiAlloc(size_t size, const char *type)
+void *uiAlloc(size_t size)
 {
 	void *out;
 
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@ void *uiAlloc(size_t size, const char *type)
 	return out;
 }
 
-void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size, const char *type)
+void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size)
 {
 	void *out;
 
 	if (p == NULL)
-		return uiAlloc(size, type);
+		return uiAlloc(size);
 	// TODO fill with 0s
 	out = g_realloc(p, size);
 	return out;
diff --git a/windows/alloc.c b/windows/alloc.c
index c5225fbe..961ff5a0 100644
--- a/windows/alloc.c
+++ b/windows/alloc.c
@@ -15,27 +15,27 @@ int initAlloc(void)
 	return heap != NULL;
 }
 
-void *uiAlloc(size_t size, const char *type)
+void *uiAlloc(size_t size)
 {
 	void *out;
 
 	out = HeapAlloc(heap, HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY, size);
 	if (out == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "memory exhausted in uiAlloc() allocating %s\n", type);
+		fprintf(stderr, "memory exhausted in uiAlloc()\n");
 		abort();
 	}
 	return out;
 }
 
-void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size, const char *type)
+void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size)
 {
 	void *out;
 
 	if (p == NULL)
-		return uiAlloc(size, type);
+		return uiAlloc(size);
 	out = HeapReAlloc(heap, HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY, p, size);
 	if (out == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "memory exhausted in uiRealloc() reallocating %s\n", type);
+		fprintf(stderr, "memory exhausted in uiRealloc()\n");
 		abort();
 	}
 	return out;
diff --git a/windows/init.c b/windows/init.c
index f29e39a9..1905cc54 100644
--- a/windows/init.c
+++ b/windows/init.c
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ static const char *loadLastError(const char *message)
 	}
 	wmessage = toUTF16(message);
 	n = _scwprintf(initErrorFormat, initErrorArgs);
-	wstr = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((n + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR), "WCHAR[]");
+	wstr = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((n + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR));
 	snwprintf(wstr, n + 1, initErrorFormat, initErrorArgs);
 	str = toUTF8(wstr);
 	uiFree(wstr);
diff --git a/windows/menu.c b/windows/menu.c
index 5906fbb0..9c467941 100644
--- a/windows/menu.c
+++ b/windows/menu.c
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ static uiMenuItem *newItem(struct menu *m, int type, const char *name)
 
 	if (m->len >= m->cap) {
 		m->cap += grow;
-		m->items = (struct menuItem **) uiRealloc(m->items, m->cap * sizeof (struct menuItem *), "struct menuItem *[]");
+		m->items = (struct menuItem **) uiRealloc(m->items, m->cap * sizeof (struct menuItem *));
 	}
 
 	item = uiNew(struct menuItem);
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ uiMenu *uiNewMenu(const char *name)
 		complain("attempt to create a new menu after menus have been finalized");
 	if (len >= cap) {
 		cap += grow;
-		menus = (struct menu **) uiRealloc(menus, cap * sizeof (struct menu *), "struct menu *[]");
+		menus = (struct menu **) uiRealloc(menus, cap * sizeof (struct menu *));
 	}
 
 	m = uiNew(struct menu);
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ static void appendMenuItem(HMENU menu, struct menuItem *item)
 
 	if (item->len >= item->cap) {
 		item->cap += grow;
-		item->hmenus = (HMENU *) uiRealloc(item->hmenus, item->cap * sizeof (HMENU), "HMENU[]");
+		item->hmenus = (HMENU *) uiRealloc(item->hmenus, item->cap * sizeof (HMENU));
 	}
 	item->hmenus[item->len] = menu;
 	item->len++;
diff --git a/windows/tab.c b/windows/tab.c
index f484938c..e5e011ed 100644
--- a/windows/tab.c
+++ b/windows/tab.c
@@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ static void tabAppendPage(uiTab *tt, const char *name, uiControl *child)
 
 	if (t->len >= t->cap) {
 		t->cap += tabCapGrow;
-		t->pages = (uiContainer **) uiRealloc(t->pages, t->cap * sizeof (uiContainer *), "uiContainer *[]");
-		t->margined = (int *) uiRealloc(t->margined, t->cap * sizeof (int), "int[]");
+		t->pages = (uiContainer **) uiRealloc(t->pages, t->cap * sizeof (uiContainer *));
+		t->margined = (int *) uiRealloc(t->margined, t->cap * sizeof (int));
 	}
 
 	n = SendMessageW(t->hwnd, TCM_GETITEMCOUNT, 0, 0);
diff --git a/windows/text.c b/windows/text.c
index 8d6d0b0a..d31f7a38 100644
--- a/windows/text.c
+++ b/windows/text.c
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ WCHAR *toUTF16(const char *str)
 	n = MBTWC(str, NULL, 0);
 	if (n == 0)
 		logLastError("error figuring out number of characters to convert to in toUTF16()");
-	wstr = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc(n * sizeof (WCHAR), "WCHAR[]");
+	wstr = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc(n * sizeof (WCHAR));
 	if (MBTWC(str, wstr, n) != n)
 		logLastError("error converting from UTF-8 to UTF-16 in toUTF16()");
 	return wstr;
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ char *toUTF8(const WCHAR *wstr)
 	n = WCTMB(wstr, NULL, 0);
 	if (n == 0)
 		logLastError("error figuring out number of characters to convert to in toUTF8()");
-	str = (char *) uiAlloc(n * sizeof (char), "char[]");
+	str = (char *) uiAlloc(n * sizeof (char));
 	if (WCTMB(wstr, str, n) != n)
 		logLastError("error converting from UTF-16 to UTF-8 in toUTFF8()");
 	return str;
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ WCHAR *windowText(HWND hwnd)
 
 	n = SendMessageW(hwnd, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0, 0);
 	// WM_GETTEXTLENGTH does not include the null terminator
-	text = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((n + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR), "WCHAR[]");
+	text = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((n + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR));
 	// note the comparison: the size includes the null terminator, but the return does not
 	if (GetWindowTextW(hwnd, text, n + 1) != n)
 		logLastError("error getting window text in windowText()");
diff --git a/windows/util.c b/windows/util.c
index 63529e59..776a154a 100644
--- a/windows/util.c
+++ b/windows/util.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ intmax_t uiWindowsWindowTextWidth(HWND hwnd)
 	len = SendMessageW(hwnd, WM_GETTEXTLENGTH, 0, 0);
 	if (len == 0)		// no text; nothing to do
 		return 0;
-	text = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((len + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR), "WCHAR[]");
+	text = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((len + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR));
 	// note the comparison: the size includes the null terminator, but the return does not
 	if (GetWindowText(hwnd, text, len + 1) != len)
 		logLastError("error getting window text in uiWindowsWindowTextWidth()");