diff --git a/c/src/libmisc/stackchk/internal.h b/c/src/libmisc/stackchk/internal.h
index ef2713abfd..ca8ef51e19 100644
--- a/c/src/libmisc/stackchk/internal.h
+++ b/c/src/libmisc/stackchk/internal.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #ifdef CPU_STACK_CHECK_SIZE
 #define PATTERN_SIZE_WORDS      (((CPU_STACK_CHECK_SIZE / 4) + 3) & ~0x3)
 #else
-#define PATTERN_SIZE_WORDS      4
+#define PATTERN_SIZE_WORDS      (PATTERN_SIZE_WORDS * sizeof(unsigned32))
 #endif
 
 #define PATTERN_SIZE_BYTES      (PATTERN_SIZE_WORDS * 4)