diff --git a/src/util-strings.h b/src/util-strings.h
index 870995f5..fc37ac4b 100644
--- a/src/util-strings.h
+++ b/src/util-strings.h
@@ -547,7 +547,8 @@ str_sanitize(const char *str)
 	if (!strchr(str, '%'))
 		return strdup(str);
 
-	size_t slen = min(strlen(str), 512);
+	size_t slen = strlen(str);
+	slen = min(slen, 512);
 	char *sanitized = zalloc(2 * slen + 1);
 	const char *src = str;
 	char *dst = sanitized;