diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e9230efd..ea158547 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ Makefile
 Makefile.in
 /aclocal.m4
 /autom4te.cache
-/build-aux
 /compile
 /configure
 /config.*
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index e1257158..47ce66db 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
+os: linux
 language: cpp
-
 dist: bionic
 
 addons:
@@ -17,27 +17,28 @@ addons:
       - libunittest++-dev
       - hunspell-fr
       - libnuspell-dev
+  homebrew:
+  # Note: aspell should work on macOS, but has been removed because one of
+  # the tests fails; see https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/issues/4097
+    packages:
+      - glib
+      - dbus-glib
+      - hspell
+      - hunspell
+      - libvoikko
+      - unittest-cpp
+    update: true
 
 env:
   global:
     - VERBOSE=1 # Get test logs in Travis logs
 
-matrix:
+jobs:
   include:
     - os: linux
       env:
-        - CONFIGURE_ARGS=("CFLAGS=\"-g3 -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined\"" "LDFLAGS=\"-fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined\"")
+        - ASAN=yes
     - os: osx
 
-before_install:
-  # Note: aspell should work on macOS, but has been removed from the next
-  # line because one of the tests fails; see
-  # https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/issues/40976
-  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "osx" ]]; then brew install dbus-glib hspell hunspell libvoikko unittest-cpp ; fi
-
 script:
-  - ./bootstrap
-  - ./configure --enable-relocatable --with-zemberek=check "${CONFIGURE_ARGS[@]}"
-  - make
-  - make distcheck
-  - if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then sudo locale-gen fr_FR.UTF-8; env LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8 make check ; fi
+  - ./build-aux/travis-build.sh
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index f3bf0726..03618e8f 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2.2.9 (July 29, 2020)
+---------------------
+
+Fix a couple of space leaks in the Nuspell back end (thanks, ASAN).
+
+
 2.2.8 (February 27, 2020)
 -------------------------
 
diff --git a/build-aux/.gitignore b/build-aux/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9d4ab694
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-aux/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+/bootstrap.in
+/compile
+/config.guess
+/config.sub
+/depcomp
+/extract-trace
+/funclib.sh
+/inline-source
+/install-sh
+/ltmain.sh
+/mdate-sh
+/missing
+/options-parser
+/test-driver
+/texinfo.tex
diff --git a/build-aux/travis-build.sh b/build-aux/travis-build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..371326b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-aux/travis-build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Build on Travis
+# Written by Reuben Thomas 2020.
+# This file is in the public domain.
+
+set -e
+
+./bootstrap
+CONFIGURE_ARGS=(--enable-relocatable --with-zemberek=check)
+if [[ "$ASAN" == "yes" ]]; then
+    CONFIGURE_ARGS+=(CFLAGS="-g3 -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined" LDFLAGS="-fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined")
+fi
+./configure --enable-silent-rules "${CONFIGURE_ARGS[@]}"
+make
+make distcheck
+
+if [[ "$TRAVIS_OS_NAME" == "linux" ]]; then sudo locale-gen fr_FR.UTF-8; env LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8 make check ; fi
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 23eb3f26..af388ca7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-AC_INIT([enchant],[2.2.8])
+AC_INIT([enchant],[2.2.9])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR(src/enchant.h)
 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([build-aux])
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
diff --git a/providers/enchant_nuspell.cpp b/providers/enchant_nuspell.cpp
index e97a3d34..1f109187 100644
--- a/providers/enchant_nuspell.cpp
+++ b/providers/enchant_nuspell.cpp
@@ -74,8 +74,9 @@ NuspellChecker::checkWord(const char *utf8Word, size_t len)
 {
 	// the 8-bit encodings use precomposed forms
 	char *normalizedWord = g_utf8_normalize (utf8Word, len, G_NORMALIZE_NFC);
-
-	return nuspell.spell(string(normalizedWord));
+	string s(normalizedWord);
+	g_free(normalizedWord);
+	return nuspell.spell(s);
 }
 
 char**
@@ -83,8 +84,10 @@ NuspellChecker::suggestWord(const char* const utf8Word, size_t len, size_t *nsug
 {
 	// the 8-bit encodings use precomposed forms
 	char *normalizedWord = g_utf8_normalize (utf8Word, len, G_NORMALIZE_NFC);
+	string s(normalizedWord);
+	g_free(normalizedWord);
 	auto suggestions = vector<string>();
-	nuspell.suggest(string(normalizedWord), suggestions);
+	nuspell.suggest(s, suggestions);
 	if (suggestions.empty())
 		return nullptr;
 	*nsug = suggestions.size();
@@ -254,6 +257,7 @@ NuspellChecker::requestDictionary(const char *szLang)
 	if (!s_fileExists(aff))
 		return false;
 	auto path = string(dic);
+	free(dic);
 	if (path.size() >= 4 && path.compare(path.size() - 4, 4, ".dic") == 0)
 		path.erase(path.size() - 4);
 	else