diff --git a/include/VirtualMachine.h b/include/VirtualMachine.h
index 4422c25322..abf610d1f2 100644
--- a/include/VirtualMachine.h
+++ b/include/VirtualMachine.h
@@ -204,10 +204,8 @@ public:
         return 0;
     }
 
-    static string lcm_state_to_str(LcmState state)
+    static string& lcm_state_to_str(string& st, LcmState state)
     {
-        string st;
-
         switch (state)
         {
             case LCM_INIT: st = "LCM_INIT"; break;
diff --git a/src/vm/VirtualMachineHook.cc b/src/vm/VirtualMachineHook.cc
index cc2b55fe76..8697f10997 100644
--- a/src/vm/VirtualMachineHook.cc
+++ b/src/vm/VirtualMachineHook.cc
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ void VirtualMachineStateHook::parse_hook_arguments(PoolObjectSQL * obj,
 
     if ( found != string::npos )
     {
-        parsed.replace(found, 15, VirtualMachine::lcm_state_to_str(prev_lcm));
+        string str;
+
+        parsed.replace(found, 15, VirtualMachine::lcm_state_to_str(str, prev_lcm));
     }
 }