diff --git a/lib/ldb/common/ldb_ldif.c b/lib/ldb/common/ldb_ldif.c
index 2bd02663f09..c2f1cb7c970 100644
--- a/lib/ldb/common/ldb_ldif.c
+++ b/lib/ldb/common/ldb_ldif.c
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ struct ldb_ldif *ldb_ldif_read(struct ldb_context *ldb,
 	ldif = talloc(ldb, struct ldb_ldif);
 	if (!ldif) return NULL;
 
-	ldif->msg = talloc(ldif, struct ldb_message);
+	ldif->msg = ldb_msg_new(ldif);
 	if (ldif->msg == NULL) {
 		talloc_free(ldif);
 		return NULL;
@@ -781,10 +781,6 @@ struct ldb_ldif *ldb_ldif_read(struct ldb_context *ldb,
 	ldif->changetype = LDB_CHANGETYPE_NONE;
 	msg = ldif->msg;
 
-	msg->dn = NULL;
-	msg->elements = NULL;
-	msg->num_elements = 0;
-
 	chunk = next_chunk(ldb, ldif, fgetc_fn, private_data);
 	if (!chunk) {
 		goto failed;
diff --git a/lib/ldb/tools/ldbdump.c b/lib/ldb/tools/ldbdump.c
index a466e4916db..eb237e89b44 100644
--- a/lib/ldb/tools/ldbdump.c
+++ b/lib/ldb/tools/ldbdump.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static int traverse_fn(TDB_CONTEXT *tdb, TDB_DATA key, TDB_DATA _dbuf, void *sta
 {
 	int ret, i, j;
 	struct ldb_dn *dn = state;
-	struct ldb_message *msg = talloc_zero(NULL, struct ldb_message);
+	struct ldb_message *msg = ldb_msg_new(NULL);
 	struct ldb_val dbuf = {
 		.data = _dbuf.dptr,
 		.length = _dbuf.dsize,