diff --git a/daemon/bencode.c b/daemon/bencode.c
index a1f0c8618..b5d04e896 100644
--- a/daemon/bencode.c
+++ b/daemon/bencode.c
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ static ssize_t __bencode_string(const char *s, ssize_t offset, size_t len) {
 	if (s + offset == end || end != s + pos)
 		return -2;
 
-	if (pos + sl > len)
+	if (pos + sl >= len)
 		return -1;
 
 	return pos + sl + 1;