diff --git a/builtin/mailsplit.c b/builtin/mailsplit.c
index 9de06e3cf7..104277acc4 100644
--- a/builtin/mailsplit.c
+++ b/builtin/mailsplit.c
@@ -98,30 +98,37 @@ static int populate_maildir_list(struct string_list *list, const char *path)
 {
 	DIR *dir;
 	struct dirent *dent;
-	char name[PATH_MAX];
+	char *name = NULL;
 	char *subs[] = { "cur", "new", NULL };
 	char **sub;
+	int ret = -1;
 
 	for (sub = subs; *sub; ++sub) {
-		snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/%s", path, *sub);
+		free(name);
+		name = xstrfmt("%s/%s", path, *sub);
 		if ((dir = opendir(name)) == NULL) {
 			if (errno == ENOENT)
 				continue;
 			error("cannot opendir %s (%s)", name, strerror(errno));
-			return -1;
+			goto out;
 		}
 
 		while ((dent = readdir(dir)) != NULL) {
 			if (dent->d_name[0] == '.')
 				continue;
-			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s/%s", *sub, dent->d_name);
+			free(name);
+			name = xstrfmt("%s/%s", *sub, dent->d_name);
 			string_list_insert(list, name);
 		}
 
 		closedir(dir);
 	}
 
-	return 0;
+	ret = 0;
+
+out:
+	free(name);
+	return ret;
 }
 
 static int maildir_filename_cmp(const char *a, const char *b)
@@ -148,8 +155,7 @@ static int maildir_filename_cmp(const char *a, const char *b)
 static int split_maildir(const char *maildir, const char *dir,
 	int nr_prec, int skip)
 {
-	char file[PATH_MAX];
-	char name[PATH_MAX];
+	char *file = NULL;
 	FILE *f = NULL;
 	int ret = -1;
 	int i;
@@ -161,7 +167,11 @@ static int split_maildir(const char *maildir, const char *dir,
 		goto out;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < list.nr; i++) {
-		snprintf(file, sizeof(file), "%s/%s", maildir, list.items[i].string);
+		char *name;
+
+		free(file);
+		file = xstrfmt("%s/%s", maildir, list.items[i].string);
+
 		f = fopen(file, "r");
 		if (!f) {
 			error("cannot open mail %s (%s)", file, strerror(errno));
@@ -173,8 +183,9 @@ static int split_maildir(const char *maildir, const char *dir,
 			goto out;
 		}
 
-		sprintf(name, "%s/%0*d", dir, nr_prec, ++skip);
+		name = xstrfmt("%s/%0*d", dir, nr_prec, ++skip);
 		split_one(f, name, 1);
+		free(name);
 
 		fclose(f);
 		f = NULL;
@@ -184,6 +195,7 @@ static int split_maildir(const char *maildir, const char *dir,
 out:
 	if (f)
 		fclose(f);
+	free(file);
 	string_list_clear(&list, 1);
 	return ret;
 }
@@ -191,7 +203,6 @@ out:
 static int split_mbox(const char *file, const char *dir, int allow_bare,
 		      int nr_prec, int skip)
 {
-	char name[PATH_MAX];
 	int ret = -1;
 	int peek;
 
@@ -218,8 +229,9 @@ static int split_mbox(const char *file, const char *dir, int allow_bare,
 	}
 
 	while (!file_done) {
-		sprintf(name, "%s/%0*d", dir, nr_prec, ++skip);
+		char *name = xstrfmt("%s/%0*d", dir, nr_prec, ++skip);
 		file_done = split_one(f, name, allow_bare);
+		free(name);
 	}
 
 	if (f != stdin)