diff --git a/src/kernel/config.c b/src/kernel/config.c
index 3f511ffd9..db55b8976 100644
--- a/src/kernel/config.c
+++ b/src/kernel/config.c
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ static int read_newunitid(const faction * f, const region * r)
 
 int read_unitid(const faction * f, const region * r)
 {
-    char token[8];
+    char token[16];
     const char *s = gettoken(token, sizeof(token));
 
     /* Da s nun nur einen string enthaelt, suchen wir ihn direkt in der
diff --git a/src/util/parser.c b/src/util/parser.c
index 51e99a9b6..62a2a37fe 100644
--- a/src/util/parser.c
+++ b/src/util/parser.c
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ void skip_token(void)
   }
 }
 
-char *parse_token(const char **str, char *lbuf, size_t len)
+char *parse_token(const char **str, char *lbuf, size_t buflen)
 {
     char *cursor = lbuf;
     char quotechar = 0;
@@ -132,12 +132,12 @@ char *parse_token(const char **str, char *lbuf, size_t len)
     }
     eatwhitespace_c(&ctoken);
     if (!*ctoken) {
-        if (len > 0) {
+        if (buflen > 0) {
             *cursor = 0;
         }
         return 0;
     }
-    while (*ctoken && cursor-len < lbuf-1) {
+    while (*ctoken) {
         ucs4_t ucs;
         size_t len;
         bool copy = false;
@@ -188,13 +188,14 @@ char *parse_token(const char **str, char *lbuf, size_t len)
             copy = true;
         }
         if (copy) {
-            memcpy(cursor, ctoken, len);
-            cursor += len;
+            if (cursor - buflen < lbuf - 1) {
+                memcpy(cursor, ctoken, len);
+                cursor += len;
+            }
             ctoken += len;
         }
     }
 
-    assert(cursor - len < lbuf - 1); // TODO: handle too-small buffers
     *cursor = '\0';
     *str = ctoken;
     return lbuf;
@@ -232,7 +233,7 @@ unsigned int getuint(void)
 
 int getid(void)
 {
-    char token[16];
+    char token[8];
     const char *str = gettoken(token, sizeof(token));
     int i = str ? atoi36(str) : 0;
     if (i < 0) {
diff --git a/src/util/parser.test.c b/src/util/parser.test.c
index 0c6e0059c..95ef70a17 100644
--- a/src/util/parser.test.c
+++ b/src/util/parser.test.c
@@ -15,6 +15,18 @@ static void test_gettoken(CuTest *tc) {
     CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "", token);
 }
 
+static void test_gettoken_short(CuTest *tc) {
+    char token[3];
+    init_tokens_str("HELP ONE TWO THREE");
+    CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "HE", gettoken(token, sizeof(token)));
+    CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "HE", token);
+    CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "ON", gettoken(token, sizeof(token)));
+    CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "TW", gettoken(token, sizeof(token)));
+    CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "TH", gettoken(token, sizeof(token)));
+    CuAssertPtrEquals(tc, NULL, (void *)gettoken(token, sizeof(token)));
+    CuAssertStrEquals(tc, "", token);
+}
+
 static void test_skip_token(CuTest *tc) {
     char token[128];
     init_tokens_str("HELP ONE TWO THREE");
@@ -53,6 +65,7 @@ CuSuite *get_parser_suite(void)
     SUITE_ADD_TEST(suite, test_atoip);
     SUITE_ADD_TEST(suite, test_skip_token);
     SUITE_ADD_TEST(suite, test_gettoken);
+    SUITE_ADD_TEST(suite, test_gettoken_short);
     SUITE_ADD_TEST(suite, test_getintegers);
     SUITE_ADD_TEST(suite, test_getstrtoken);
     return suite;