diff --git a/stdlib/canonicalize.c b/stdlib/canonicalize.c
index cbd885a3c5..ddeea3e2e9 100644
--- a/stdlib/canonicalize.c
+++ b/stdlib/canonicalize.c
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 char *
 __realpath (const char *name, char *resolved)
 {
-  char *rpath, *dest, *extra_buf = NULL;
+  char *rpath, *dest, *buf = NULL, *extra_buf = NULL;
   const char *start, *end, *rpath_limit;
   long int path_max;
   int num_links = 0;
@@ -163,7 +163,6 @@ __realpath (const char *name, char *resolved)
 
 	  if (S_ISLNK (st.st_mode))
 	    {
-	      char *buf = __alloca (path_max);
 	      size_t len;
 
 	      if (++num_links > __eloop_threshold ())
@@ -172,6 +171,8 @@ __realpath (const char *name, char *resolved)
 		  goto error;
 		}
 
+	      if (!buf)
+		buf = __alloca (path_max);
 	      n = __readlink (rpath, buf, path_max - 1);
 	      if (n < 0)
 		goto error;