diff --git a/include/alloca.h b/include/alloca.h
index fd90664f0a..900e744a41 100644
--- a/include/alloca.h
+++ b/include/alloca.h
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@ extern int __libc_use_alloca (size_t size) __attribute__ ((const));
 extern int __libc_alloca_cutoff (size_t size) __attribute__ ((const));
 libc_hidden_proto (__libc_alloca_cutoff)
 
-#define __MAX_ALLOCA_CUTOFF	65536
+/* Reduce from the usual 65536 so as to avoid stack overflow in situations where
+   threads have not been given much spare stack space.  */
+#define __MAX_ALLOCA_CUTOFF	8192
 
 #include <allocalim.h>