-

diff --git a/mono/utils/mono-counters-agent.c b/mono/utils/mono-counters-agent.c
index 1befb28..b3e710d 100644
--- a/mono/utils/mono-counters-agent.c
+++ b/mono/utils/mono-counters-agent.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ enum {
 	SRV_REMOVE_COUNTER,
 	SVR_SAMPLES,
 };
-	
+
 /**
  * Protocol :
  * | Headers | Values | Values | ... [Infinity]
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ static gboolean
 write_buffer_to_socket (int fd, const char* buffer, size_t size)
 {
 	size_t sent = 0;
-	
+
 	while (sent < size) {
 		ssize_t res = send (fd, buffer + sent, size - sent, 0);
 		if (res <= 0)
@@ -191,13 +191,44 @@ read_socket_to_buffer (int fd, char* buffer, size_t size)
 }
 
 static gboolean
-write_counter_agent_header (int socketfd, MonoCounterAgent *counter_agent)
+write_string (int socketfd, const char *str)
+{
+	int size = -1;
+
+	//Null is encoded as -1
+	if (!str)
+		return write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&size, 4);
+
+	size = strlen (str);
+	if (!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&size, 4))
+		return FALSE;
+	if (!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, str, size))
+		return FALSE;
+
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
+
+static gboolean
+read_string (int socketfd, char **str)
 {
-	int len = strlen (counter_agent->counter->name);
+	int len;
 
+	if (!read_socket_to_buffer (socketfd, (char*)&len, 4))
+		return FALSE;
+
+	*str = g_malloc(len + 1);
+	if (!read_socket_to_buffer (socketfd, *str, len))
+		return FALSE;
+	(*str) [len] = '\0';
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
+static gboolean
+write_counter_agent_header (int socketfd, MonoCounterAgent *counter_agent)
+{
 	if (!write_buffer_to_socket(socketfd, (char*)&counter_agent->counter->category, 4) ||
-		!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&len, 4) ||
-		!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*) counter_agent->counter->name, len) ||
+		!write_string (socketfd, counter_agent->counter->name) ||
 		!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&counter_agent->counter->type, 4) ||
 		!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&counter_agent->counter->unit, 4) ||
 		!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&counter_agent->counter->variance, 4) ||
@@ -242,40 +273,6 @@ do_hello (int socketfd)
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
-static gboolean
-write_string (int socketfd, const char *str)
-{
-	short size = -1;
-
-	//Null is encoded as -1
-	if (!str)
-		return write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&size, 2);
-
-	size = strlen (str);
-	if (!write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, (char*)&size, 2))
-		return FALSE;
-
-	return write_buffer_to_socket (socketfd, str, size);
-}
-
-
-static char*
-read_string (int socketfd)
-{
-	int len;
-	char *string;
-
-	if (!read_socket_to_buffer (socketfd, (char*)&len, 4))
-		return NULL;
-
-	string = g_malloc(len + 1);
-	if (!read_socket_to_buffer (socketfd, string, len))
-		return FALSE;
-	string [len] = '\0';
-	return string;
-}
-
-
 static int _sock;
 static gboolean
 write_counter (const char *category, const char *name)
@@ -316,10 +313,10 @@ do_add_counter (int socketfd)
 	MonoCounterCategory mcat;
 	MonoCounterAgent *added_counter;
 
-	if (!(category = read_string (socketfd)))
+	if (!read_string (socketfd, &category) || !category)
 		goto fail;
 
-	if (!(name = read_string (socketfd)))
+	if (!read_string (socketfd, &name) || !name)
 		goto fail;
 
 	mcat = mono_counters_category_name_to_id (category);
@@ -473,22 +470,22 @@ mono_counters_agent_sampling_thread (void* ptr)
 	fd_set socketfd_set;
 	gint64 last_sampling = 0, now;
 	char cmd;
-	
+
 	if ((socketfd = socket (AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) < 0) {
 		g_warning ("mono-counters-agent: error with socket : %s", strerror (errno));
 		return NULL;
 	}
-	
+
 	memset (&inspector_addr, 0, sizeof (inspector_addr));
-	
+
 	inspector_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
 	inspector_addr.sin_port = htons (inspector_port);
-	
+
 	if (!inet_pton (AF_INET, inspector_ip, &inspector_addr.sin_addr)) {
 		g_warning ("mono-counters-agent: error with inet_pton : %s", strerror (errno));
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
-	
+
 	if (connect(socketfd, (struct sockaddr*)&inspector_addr, sizeof(inspector_addr)) < 0) {
 		g_warning ("mono-counters-agent: error with connect : %s", strerror(errno));
 		goto cleanup;
@@ -579,10 +576,10 @@ parse_configuration (const gchar* configuration)
 			interval = strtoll (opt, NULL, 10);
 		}
 	}
-	
+
 	parse_counters_names(counters_names);
 	parse_address(address);
-	
+
 	g_free((void*)counters_names);
 	g_free((void*)address);
 	g_strfreev(opts);