Typically what I do in that situation is lightly wrap the API. For instance:

    Image* image = allocate_image(…);
    …
    deallocate_image(image);

    ↓

    struct ImageDeleter {
        void operator()(void* image) const {
            deallocate_image(image);
        }
    };

    unique_ptr<Image, ImageDeleter> image(allocate_image(…));

That certainly can’t work everywhere, but I have yet to be failed by it.