diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/path.c b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/path.c
index af9ca2d4f..b757dda37 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/path.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/path.c
@@ -162,9 +162,9 @@ static pid_t path_xargs(Shell_t *shp,const char *path, char *argv[],char *const
 	pid_t pid;
 	if(shp->xargmin < 0)
 		return((pid_t)-1);
-	size = shp->gd->lim.arg_max - (ARG_EXTRA_BYTES > 2 ? 1024*ARG_EXTRA_BYTES : 2048);
+	size = shp->gd->lim.arg_max - 2048;
 	for(ev=envp; cp= *ev; ev++)
-		size -= strlen(cp) + 1 + ARG_EXTRA_BYTES;
+		size -= 2 * (strlen(cp) + 1 + ARG_EXTRA_BYTES);
 	for(av=argv; (cp= *av) && av< &argv[shp->xargmin]; av++)  
 		size -= strlen(cp) + 1 + ARG_EXTRA_BYTES;
 	for(av=avlast; cp= *av; av++,nlast++)