diff --git a/src/mem.c b/src/mem.c
index 49429cc..f17fa61 100644
--- a/src/mem.c
+++ b/src/mem.c
@@ -53,3 +53,26 @@ void *ntru_malloc(size_t size)
 
 	return ptr;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Allocate memory of size and return
+ * a void pointer. The memory is zeroed.
+ *
+ * @param nmemb amount of blocks to allocate
+ * @param size of the memory blocks to allocate in bytes
+ * @return void pointer to the beginning of the allocated memory block
+ */
+void *ntru_calloc(size_t nmemb, size_t size)
+{
+	void *ptr;
+
+	ptr = calloc(nmemb, size);
+
+	if (size)
+		if (!ptr) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "failed to allocate memory, aborting!");
+			abort();
+		}
+
+	return ptr;
+}
diff --git a/src/mem.h b/src/mem.h
index 8c0ca3c..201d1fc 100644
--- a/src/mem.h
+++ b/src/mem.h
@@ -31,5 +31,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
 void *ntru_malloc(size_t size);
+void *ntru_calloc(size_t nmemb, size_t size);
+
 
 #endif /* NTRU_MEM_H */