diff --git a/src/database.c b/src/database.c
--- a/src/database.c
+++ b/src/database.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <gdbm.h>
 
 #include <database.h>
+#include "common.h"
 
 char *db_insert (char *file_name, char *name, char *msg, int mode)
 {
@@ -66,7 +67,7 @@
     GDBM_FILE dbf;
     datum content;
     datum key;
-    static char msg[513] = { 0 };
+    static char msg[DEFAULT_BUF_SIZE] = { 0 };
 
     if ((dbf = gdbm_open (file_name, 512, GDBM_READER, 0, 0)) == NULL)
         return "db_lookup error";
@@ -76,10 +77,10 @@
 
     content = gdbm_fetch (dbf, key);
     if (content.dptr != NULL) {
-        snprintf (msg, 512, "%s", content.dptr);
+        snprintf (msg, sizeof (msg), "%s", content.dptr);
         free (content.dptr);
     } else
-        snprintf (msg, 512, "I haven't heard anything about %s.", entry);
+        snprintf (msg, sizeof (msg), "I haven't heard anything about %s.", entry);
 
     gdbm_close (dbf);
     return msg;
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@
     }
 
     gdbm_close (dbf);
-    snprintf (msg, 80, "I am holding %d %s in my database.", count, (count > 0) ? "rows" : "row");
+    snprintf (msg, sizeof (msg), "I am holding %d %s in my database.", count, (count > 0) ? "rows" : "row");
     return msg;
 }
 
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@
     }
 
     gdbm_close (dbf);
-    snprintf (msg, 80, "I am holding %d %s in my database.", count, (count > 0) ? "rows" : "row");
+    snprintf (msg, sizeof (msg), "I am holding %d %s in my database.", count, (count > 0) ? "rows" : "row");
     return msg;
 }
 
@@ -151,6 +152,6 @@
     gdbm_reorganize (dbf);
 
     gdbm_close (dbf);
-    snprintf (msg, 80, "I reorganized the database.");
+    snprintf (msg, sizeof (msg), "I reorganized the database.");
     return msg;
 }