diff --git a/modutils/modprobe-small.c b/modutils/modprobe-small.c
index 91e0c1380..b7990bff1 100644
--- a/modutils/modprobe-small.c
+++ b/modutils/modprobe-small.c
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ static int pathname_matches_modname(const char *pathname, const char *modname)
 	char name[MODULE_NAME_LEN];
 	const char *fname = bb_get_last_path_component_nostrip(pathname);
 	const char *suffix = strrstr(fname, ".ko");
-	safe_strncpy(name, fname, suffix - fname);
+	safe_strncpy(name, fname, suffix - fname + 1);
 	replace(name, '-', '_');
 	r = (strcmp(name, modname) == 0);
 	return r;