diff --git a/gcc/ChangeLog b/gcc/ChangeLog
index 58e465821d36..8916d782a0ed 100644
--- a/gcc/ChangeLog
+++ b/gcc/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2001-08-03  John David Anglin  <dave@hiauly1.hia.nrc.ca>
+
+	* varasm.c (output_constant_def_contents): Use for the length of a
+	string constant either its TREE_STRING_LENGTH or its int_size_in_bytes
+	depending on which is larger.
+
 2001-07-16  Daniel Berlin  <dan@cgsoftware.com>
 
         * gcse.c: Include df.h for use as a dataflow analyzer.
diff --git a/gcc/varasm.c b/gcc/varasm.c
index 82ad79202505..bb723c8d99a1 100644
--- a/gcc/varasm.c
+++ b/gcc/varasm.c
@@ -3116,7 +3116,8 @@ output_constant_def_contents (exp, reloc, labelno)
   /* Output the value of EXP.  */
   output_constant (exp,
 		   (TREE_CODE (exp) == STRING_CST
-		    ? TREE_STRING_LENGTH (exp)
+		    ? MAX (TREE_STRING_LENGTH (exp),
+			   int_size_in_bytes (TREE_TYPE (exp)))
 		    : int_size_in_bytes (TREE_TYPE (exp))));
 
 }