diff --git a/Process.c b/Process.c
index 0eba1215..c2a2ed17 100644
--- a/Process.c
+++ b/Process.c
@@ -425,7 +425,12 @@ void Process_makeCommandStr(Process *this) {
    if (mc->cmdlineChanged || mc->commChanged || mc->exeChanged) {
       free(mc->str);
       /* Accommodate the column text, two field separators and terminating NUL */
-      mc->str = xCalloc(1, mc->maxLen + 2 * SEPARATOR_LEN + 1);
+      size_t maxLen = 2 * SEPARATOR_LEN + 1;
+      maxLen += this->cmdline ? strlen(this->cmdline) : strlen("(zombie)");
+      maxLen += this->procComm ? strlen(this->procComm) : 0;
+      maxLen += this->procExe ? strlen(this->procExe) : 0;
+
+      mc->str = xCalloc(1, maxLen);
    }
 
    /* Preserve the settings used in this run */
diff --git a/Process.h b/Process.h
index 9aa04b3e..0b2f198d 100644
--- a/Process.h
+++ b/Process.h
@@ -72,7 +72,6 @@ typedef struct ProcessCmdlineHighlight_ {
  * threads and zombies */
 typedef struct ProcessMergedCommand_ {
    char *str;                                  /* merged Command string */
-   size_t maxLen;                              /* maximum expected length of Command string */
    size_t highlightCount;                      /* how many portions of cmdline to highlight */
    ProcessCmdlineHighlight highlights[8];      /* which portions of cmdline to highlight */
    bool separateComm : 1;                      /* whether comm is a separate field */
diff --git a/linux/LinuxProcessList.c b/linux/LinuxProcessList.c
index 0977bee8..8f794a18 100644
--- a/linux/LinuxProcessList.c
+++ b/linux/LinuxProcessList.c
@@ -1131,7 +1131,6 @@ static bool LinuxProcessList_readCmdlineFile(Process* process, openat_arg_t proc
    }
 
    ProcessMergedCommand *mc = &process->mergedCommand;
-   mc->maxLen = lastChar + 1;  /* accommodate cmdline */
    if (!process->cmdline || !String_eq(command, process->cmdline)) {
       free_and_xStrdup(&process->cmdline, command);
       process->cmdlineBasenameStart = tokenStart;
@@ -1142,7 +1141,6 @@ static bool LinuxProcessList_readCmdlineFile(Process* process, openat_arg_t proc
    /* /proc/[pid]/comm could change, so should be updated */
    if ((amtRead = xReadfileat(procFd, "comm", command, sizeof(command))) > 0) {
       command[amtRead - 1] = '\0';
-      mc->maxLen += amtRead - 1; /* accommodate comm */
       if (!process->procComm || !String_eq(command, process->procComm)) {
          free_and_xStrdup(&process->procComm, command);
          mc->commChanged = true;
@@ -1165,7 +1163,6 @@ static bool LinuxProcessList_readCmdlineFile(Process* process, openat_arg_t proc
 #endif
    if (amtRead > 0) {
       filename[amtRead] = 0;
-      mc->maxLen += amtRead; /* accommodate exe */
       if (!process->procExe ||
          (!process->procExeDeleted && !String_eq(filename, process->procExe)) ||
          (process->procExeDeleted && !String_startsWith(filename, process->procExe))) {