diff --git a/include/json/allocator.h b/include/json/allocator.h
index 0f5c224..95ef8a5 100644
--- a/include/json/allocator.h
+++ b/include/json/allocator.h
@@ -35,11 +35,10 @@ public:
    * Release memory which was allocated for N items at pointer P.
    *
    * The memory block is filled with zeroes before being released.
-   * The pointer argument is tagged as "volatile" to prevent the
-   * compiler optimizing out this critical step.
    */
-  void deallocate(volatile pointer p, size_type n) {
-    std::memset(p, 0, n * sizeof(T));
+  void deallocate(pointer p, size_type n) {
+    // memset_s is used because memset may be optimized away by the compiler
+    memset_s(p, n * sizeof(T), 0, n * sizeof(T));
     // free using "global operator delete"
     ::operator delete(p);
   }