diff --git a/example/c-vt/src/main.c b/example/c-vt/src/main.c
index 45269d1d4..406e617b6 100644
--- a/example/c-vt/src/main.c
+++ b/example/c-vt/src/main.c
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <ghostty-vt.h>
+
 int main() {
-  return 42;
+  GhosttyOscParser parser;
+  ghostty_vt_osc_new(NULL, &parser);
+  ghostty_vt_osc_free(parser);
+  return 0;
 }
diff --git a/include/ghostty-vt.h b/include/ghostty-vt.h
index 7bbbdf3da..3c4f6212d 100644
--- a/include/ghostty-vt.h
+++ b/include/ghostty-vt.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ extern "C" {
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Types
 
-typedef struct GhosttyOscParser GhosttyOscParser;
+typedef struct GhosttyOscParser *GhosttyOscParser;
 
 typedef enum {
     GHOSTTY_VT_SUCCESS = 0,
@@ -131,6 +131,9 @@ typedef struct {
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Functions
 
+GhosttyVtResult ghostty_vt_osc_new(const GhosttyVtAllocator*, GhosttyOscParser*);
+void ghostty_vt_osc_free(GhosttyOscParser);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/lib/allocator.zig b/src/lib/allocator.zig
index ef296f23d..de1453dbe 100644
--- a/src/lib/allocator.zig
+++ b/src/lib/allocator.zig
@@ -13,6 +13,22 @@ pub const VTable = extern struct {
     free: *const fn (*anyopaque, memory: [*]u8, memory_len: usize, alignment: u8, ret_addr: usize) callconv(.c) void,
 };
 
+/// Returns an allocator to use for the given possibly-null C allocator,
+/// ensuring some allocator is always returned.
+pub fn default(c_alloc_: ?*const Allocator) std.mem.Allocator {
+    // If we're given an allocator, use it.
+    if (c_alloc_) |c_alloc| return c_alloc.zig();
+
+    // If we have libc, use that. We prefer libc if we have it because
+    // its generally fast but also lets the embedder easily override
+    // malloc/free with custom allocators like mimalloc or something.
+    if (comptime builtin.link_libc) return std.heap.c_allocator;
+
+    // No libc, use the preferred allocator for releases which is the
+    // Zig SMP allocator.
+    return std.heap.smp_allocator;
+}
+
 /// The Allocator interface for custom memory allocation strategies
 /// within C libghostty APIs.
 ///
diff --git a/src/terminal/c_api.zig b/src/terminal/c_api.zig
index 079a16fb3..debffdc59 100644
--- a/src/terminal/c_api.zig
+++ b/src/terminal/c_api.zig
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const std = @import("std");
+const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const lib_alloc = @import("../lib/allocator.zig");
 const CAllocator = lib_alloc.Allocator;
 const osc = @import("osc.zig");
@@ -13,10 +14,10 @@ pub const Result = enum(c_int) {
 };
 
 pub fn ghostty_vt_osc_new(
-    c_alloc: *const CAllocator,
+    c_alloc_: ?*const CAllocator,
     result: *GhosttyOscParser,
 ) callconv(.c) Result {
-    const alloc = c_alloc.zig();
+    const alloc = lib_alloc.default(c_alloc_);
     const ptr = alloc.create(osc.Parser) catch return .out_of_memory;
     ptr.* = .initAlloc(alloc);
     result.* = .{ .parser = ptr };