diff --git a/epan/column-utils.c b/epan/column-utils.c
index b9ebbedf67..28bc01d472 100644
--- a/epan/column-utils.c
+++ b/epan/column-utils.c
@@ -253,22 +253,68 @@ col_custom_prime_edt(epan_dissect_t *edt, column_info *cinfo)
   }
 }
 
-static void
-col_do_append_sep_va_fstr(column_info *cinfo, const gint el, const gchar *separator,
-              const gchar *format, va_list ap)
+/*  Appends a vararg list to a packet info string.
+ *  This function's code is duplicated in col_append_sep_fstr() below because
+ *  the for() loop below requires us to call va_start/va_end so intermediate
+ *  functions are a problem.
+ */
+void
+col_append_fstr(column_info *cinfo, const gint el, const gchar *format, ...)
 {
   int  i;
-  int  len, max_len, sep_len;
+  int  len, max_len;
+  va_list ap;
+
+  if (!CHECK_COL(cinfo, el))
+    return;
 
   if (el == COL_INFO)
     max_len = COL_MAX_INFO_LEN;
   else
     max_len = COL_MAX_LEN;
 
+  for (i = cinfo->col_first[el]; i <= cinfo->col_last[el]; i++) {
+    if (cinfo->fmt_matx[i][el]) {
+      /*
+       * First arrange that we can append, if necessary.
+       */
+      COL_CHECK_APPEND(cinfo, i, max_len);
+
+      len = (int) strlen(cinfo->col_buf[i]);
+
+      va_start(ap, format);
+      g_vsnprintf(&cinfo->col_buf[i][len], max_len - len, format, ap);
+      va_end(ap);
+    }
+  }
+
+}
+
+/*  Appends a vararg list to a packet info string.
+ *  Prefixes it with the given separator if the column is not empty.
+ *  Code is duplicated from col_append_fstr above().
+ */
+void
+col_append_sep_fstr(column_info *cinfo, const gint el, const gchar *separator,
+		    const gchar *format, ...)
+{
+  int  i;
+  int  len, max_len, sep_len;
+  va_list ap;
+
+  if (!CHECK_COL(cinfo, el))
+    return;
+
   if (separator == NULL)
-    sep_len = 0;
+    separator = ", ";    /* default */
+
+  sep_len = (int) strlen(separator);
+
+  if (el == COL_INFO)
+    max_len = COL_MAX_INFO_LEN;
   else
-    sep_len = (int) strlen(separator);
+    max_len = COL_MAX_LEN;
+
   for (i = cinfo->col_first[el]; i <= cinfo->col_last[el]; i++) {
     if (cinfo->fmt_matx[i][el]) {
       /*
@@ -287,45 +333,13 @@ col_do_append_sep_va_fstr(column_info *cinfo, const gint el, const gchar *separa
           len += sep_len;
         }
       }
+      va_start(ap, format);
       g_vsnprintf(&cinfo->col_buf[i][len], max_len - len, format, ap);
+      va_end(ap);
     }
   }
 }
 
-/* Appends a vararg list to a packet info string. */
-void
-col_append_fstr(column_info *cinfo, const gint el, const gchar *format, ...)
-{
-  va_list ap;
-
-  if (!CHECK_COL(cinfo, el))
-    return;
-
-  va_start(ap, format);
-  col_do_append_sep_va_fstr(cinfo, el, NULL, format, ap);
-  va_end(ap);
-}
-
-/* Appends a vararg list to a packet info string.
- * Prefixes it with the given separator if the column is not empty. */
-void
-col_append_sep_fstr(column_info *cinfo, const gint el, const gchar *separator,
-        const gchar *format, ...)
-{
-  va_list ap;
-
-  if (!CHECK_COL(cinfo, el))
-    return;
-
-  if (separator == NULL)
-    separator = ", ";    /* default */
-  va_start(ap, format);
-  col_do_append_sep_va_fstr(cinfo, el, separator, format, ap);
-  va_end(ap);
-}
-
-
-
 /* Prepends a vararg list to a packet info string. */
 #define COL_BUF_MAX_LEN (((COL_MAX_INFO_LEN) > (COL_MAX_LEN)) ? \
     (COL_MAX_INFO_LEN) : (COL_MAX_LEN))