diff --git a/libs/esl/src/esl_oop.cpp b/libs/esl/src/esl_oop.cpp
index cd6fb53afc..8328c2e416 100644
--- a/libs/esl/src/esl_oop.cpp
+++ b/libs/esl/src/esl_oop.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ ESLevent *ESLconnection::api(const char *cmd, const char *arg)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	len = strlen(cmd) + (arg ? strlen(arg) : 0) + 5;
+	len = strlen(cmd) + (arg ? strlen(arg) : 0) + 10;
 
 	cmd_buf = (char *) malloc(len);
 	assert(cmd_buf);
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ ESLevent *ESLconnection::bgapi(const char *cmd, const char *arg)
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	len = strlen(cmd) + (arg ? strlen(arg) : 0) + 8;
+	len = strlen(cmd) + (arg ? strlen(arg) : 0) + 10;
 
 	cmd_buf = (char *) malloc(len);
 	assert(cmd_buf);