diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 8d94f9e3c..7c99bea19 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ GNU coreutils NEWS                                    -*- outline -*-
   'mv --backup=simple f d/' no longer mistakenly backs up d/f to f~.
   [bug introduced in coreutils-9.1]
 
+  rm now fails gracefully when memory is exhausted.
+  Previously it may have aborted with a failed assertion in some cases.
+  [This bug was present in "the beginning".]
+
   rm -d (--dir) now properly handles unreadable empty directories.
   E.g., before, this would fail to remove d: mkdir -m0 d; src/rm -d d
   [bug introduced in v8.19 with the addition of this option]
diff --git a/gnulib b/gnulib
index 7352d9fec..f17d39777 160000
--- a/gnulib
+++ b/gnulib
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 7352d9fec59398c76c3bb8a2ef86ba58818f0342
+Subproject commit f17d397771164c1b0f77fea8fb0abdc99cf4a3e1