diff --git a/include/xbps.h.in b/include/xbps.h.in
index 6c1a7964..5b37c196 100644
--- a/include/xbps.h.in
+++ b/include/xbps.h.in
@@ -592,7 +592,7 @@ struct xbps_handle {
 	 *
 	 * Full path to the xbps configuration directory.
 	 */
-	char confdir[XBPS_MAXPATH];
+	char confdir[XBPS_MAXPATH+sizeof(XBPS_SYSCONF_PATH)];
 	/**
 	 * @var rootdir
 	 *
@@ -606,14 +606,14 @@ struct xbps_handle {
 	 * Cache directory to store downloaded binary packages.
 	 * If unset, defaults to \a XBPS_CACHE_PATH (relative to rootdir).
 	 */
-	char cachedir[XBPS_MAXPATH];
+	char cachedir[XBPS_MAXPATH+sizeof(XBPS_CACHE_PATH)];
 	/**
 	 * @var metadir
 	 *
 	 * Metadata directory for all operations in XBPS.
 	 * If unset, defaults to \a XBPS_CACHE_PATH (relative to rootdir).
 	 */
-	char metadir[XBPS_MAXPATH];
+	char metadir[XBPS_MAXPATH+sizeof(XBPS_META_PATH)];
 	/**
 	 * @var native_arch
 	 *
diff --git a/lib/initend.c b/lib/initend.c
index 3a31fcfc..7b796148 100644
--- a/lib/initend.c
+++ b/lib/initend.c
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ int
 xbps_init(struct xbps_handle *xhp)
 {
 	struct utsname un;
-	char cwd[PATH_MAX-1], sysconfdir[XBPS_MAXPATH], *buf;
+	char cwd[PATH_MAX-1], sysconfdir[XBPS_MAXPATH+sizeof(XBPS_SYSDEFCONF_PATH)], *buf;
 	const char *repodir, *native_arch;
 	int rv;