diff --git a/src/http.c b/src/http.c
index a78e290a..d5717f88 100644
--- a/src/http.c
+++ b/src/http.c
@@ -706,16 +706,13 @@ http_parse_get_args(http_connection_t *hc, char *args)
   }
 }
 
-
 /**
  *
  */
 static void
 http_serve_requests(http_connection_t *hc, htsbuf_queue_t *spill)
 {
-  char cmdline[1024];
-  char hdrline[1024];
-  char *argv[3], *c;
+  char *argv[3], *c, *cmdline = NULL, *hdrline = NULL;
   int n;
 
   htsbuf_queue_init(&hc->hc_reply, 0);
@@ -723,31 +720,36 @@ http_serve_requests(http_connection_t *hc, htsbuf_queue_t *spill)
   do {
     hc->hc_no_output  = 0;
 
-    if(tcp_read_line(hc->hc_fd, cmdline, sizeof(cmdline), spill) < 0)
-      return;
+    if (cmdline) free(cmdline);
+
+    if ((cmdline = tcp_read_line(hc->hc_fd, spill)) == NULL)
+      goto error;
 
     if((n = http_tokenize(cmdline, argv, 3, -1)) != 3)
-      return;
+      goto error;
     
     if((hc->hc_cmd = str2val(argv[0], HTTP_cmdtab)) == -1)
-      return;
+      goto error;
+
     hc->hc_url = argv[1];
     if((hc->hc_version = str2val(argv[2], HTTP_versiontab)) == -1)
-      return;
+      goto error;
 
     /* parse header */
     while(1) {
-      if(tcp_read_line(hc->hc_fd, hdrline, sizeof(hdrline), spill) < 0)
-	return;
+      if (hdrline) free(hdrline);
 
-      if(hdrline[0] == 0)
-	break; /* header complete */
+      if ((hdrline = tcp_read_line(hc->hc_fd, spill)) == NULL)
+        goto error;
+
+      if(!*hdrline)
+	      break; /* header complete */
 
       if((n = http_tokenize(hdrline, argv, 2, -1)) < 2)
-	continue;
+	      continue;
 
       if((c = strrchr(argv[0], ':')) == NULL)
-	return;
+	      goto error;
 
       *c = 0;
       http_arg_set(&hc->hc_args, argv[0], argv[1]);
@@ -771,7 +773,10 @@ http_serve_requests(http_connection_t *hc, htsbuf_queue_t *spill)
     hc->hc_password = NULL;
 
   } while(hc->hc_keep_alive);
-  
+
+error:
+  free(hdrline);
+  free(cmdline);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/tcp.c b/src/tcp.c
index b84aaa7a..d258e572 100644
--- a/src/tcp.c
+++ b/src/tcp.c
@@ -249,30 +249,29 @@ tcp_fill_htsbuf_from_fd(int fd, htsbuf_queue_t *hq)
 /**
  *
  */
-int
-tcp_read_line(int fd, char *buf, const size_t bufsize, htsbuf_queue_t *spill)
+char *
+tcp_read_line(int fd, htsbuf_queue_t *spill)
 {
   int len;
+  char *buf;
 
-  while(1) {
+  do {
     len = htsbuf_find(spill, 0xa);
 
     if(len == -1) {
       if(tcp_fill_htsbuf_from_fd(fd, spill) < 0)
-	return -1;
-      continue;
+        return NULL;
     }
-    
-    if(len >= bufsize - 1)
-      return -1;
+  } while (len == -1);
 
-    htsbuf_read(spill, buf, len);
-    buf[len] = 0;
-    while(len > 0 && buf[len - 1] < 32)
-      buf[--len] = 0;
-    htsbuf_drop(spill, 1); /* Drop the \n */
-    return 0;
-  }
+  buf = malloc(len+1);
+  
+  htsbuf_read(spill, buf, len);
+  buf[len] = 0;
+  while(len > 0 && buf[len - 1] < 32)
+    buf[--len] = 0;
+  htsbuf_drop(spill, 1); /* Drop the \n */
+  return buf;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/tcp.h b/src/tcp.h
index 9b130066..b0954462 100644
--- a/src/tcp.h
+++ b/src/tcp.h
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@ void *tcp_server_create(const char *bindaddr, int port,
 
 int tcp_read(int fd, void *buf, size_t len);
 
-int tcp_read_line(int fd, char *buf, const size_t bufsize, 
-		  htsbuf_queue_t *spill);
+char *tcp_read_line(int fd, htsbuf_queue_t *spill);
 
 int tcp_read_data(int fd, char *buf, const size_t bufsize,
 		  htsbuf_queue_t *spill);