diff --git a/crates/runtime/src/externref.rs b/crates/runtime/src/externref.rs
index 10cc2f12ad..1a43e33932 100644
--- a/crates/runtime/src/externref.rs
+++ b/crates/runtime/src/externref.rs
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ impl VMExternRef {
 
             let alloc_ptr = std::alloc::alloc(layout);
             let alloc_ptr = NonNull::new(alloc_ptr).unwrap_or_else(|| {
-                Self::alloc_failure();
+                std::alloc::handle_alloc_error(layout);
             });
 
             let value_ptr = alloc_ptr.cast::<T>();
@@ -338,12 +338,6 @@ impl VMExternRef {
         VMExternRef(NonNull::new_unchecked(ptr).cast())
     }
 
-    #[inline(never)]
-    #[cold]
-    fn alloc_failure() -> ! {
-        panic!("VMExternRef allocation failure")
-    }
-
     #[inline]
     fn extern_data(&self) -> &VMExternData {
         unsafe { self.0.as_ref() }