diff --git a/src/move.c b/src/move.c
index c1ded5faa..a7ae6b018 100644
--- a/src/move.c
+++ b/src/move.c
@@ -1047,15 +1047,17 @@ int movewhere(const unit * u, const char *token, region * r, region ** resultp)
 order * cycle_route(order * ord, const struct locale *lang, int gereist)
 {
     int cm = 0;
-    char tail[1024], *bufp = tail;
-    char neworder[2048], *obuf = neworder;
+    char tail[1024];
+    char neworder[2048];
     char token[128];
     direction_t d = NODIRECTION;
     bool paused = false;
-    bool pause;
     order *norder;
-    size_t size = sizeof(tail) - 1;
+    sbstring sbtail;
+    sbstring sborder;
 
+    sbs_init(&sbtail, tail, sizeof(tail));
+    sbs_init(&sborder, neworder, sizeof(neworder));
     assert(getkeyword(ord) == K_ROUTE);
     tail[0] = '\0';
     neworder[0] = '\0';
@@ -1063,14 +1065,10 @@ order * cycle_route(order * ord, const struct locale *lang, int gereist)
 
     for (cm = 0;; ++cm) {
         const char *s;
-        pause = false;
         s = gettoken(token, sizeof(token));
         if (s && *s) {
             d = get_direction(s, lang);
-            if (d == D_PAUSE) {
-                pause = true;
-            }
-            else if (d == NODIRECTION) {
+            if (d == NODIRECTION) {
                 break;
             }
         }
@@ -1079,38 +1077,37 @@ order * cycle_route(order * ord, const struct locale *lang, int gereist)
         }
         if (cm < gereist) {
             /* TODO: hier sollte keine PAUSE auftreten */
-            assert(!pause);
-            if (!pause) {
+            assert (d != D_PAUSE);
+            if (d != D_PAUSE) {
                 const char *loc = LOC(lang, shortdirections[d]);
                 assert(loc);
-                if (bufp != tail) {
-                    bufp = STRLCPY_EX(bufp, " ", &size, "cycle_route");
+                if (sbs_length(&sbtail) > 0) {
+                    sbs_strcat(&sbtail, " ");
                 }
-                bufp = STRLCPY_EX(bufp, loc, &size, "cycle_route");
+                sbs_strcat(&sbtail, loc);
             }
         }
         else if (strlen(neworder) > sizeof(neworder) / 2)
             break;
-        else if (cm == gereist && !paused && pause) {
+        else if (cm == gereist && !paused && (d == D_PAUSE)) {
             const char *loc = LOC(lang, parameters[P_PAUSE]);
-            bufp = STRLCPY_EX(bufp, " ", &size, "cycle_route");
-            bufp = STRLCPY_EX(bufp, loc, &size, "cycle_route");
+            sbs_strcat(&sbtail, " ");
+            sbs_strcat(&sbtail, loc);
             paused = true;
         }
-        else if (pause) {
-            /* da PAUSE nicht in ein shortdirections[d] umgesetzt wird (ist
-             * hier keine normale direction), muss jede PAUSE einzeln
-             * herausgefiltert und explizit gesetzt werden */
-            if (neworder != obuf) {
-                obuf += str_strlcat(obuf, " ", sizeof(neworder) - (obuf - neworder));
-            }
-            obuf += str_strlcat(obuf, LOC(lang, parameters[P_PAUSE]), sizeof(neworder) - (obuf - neworder));
-        }
         else {
-            if (neworder != obuf) {
-                obuf += str_strlcat(obuf, " ", sizeof(neworder) - (obuf - neworder));
+            if (sbs_length(&sbtail) > 0) {
+                sbs_strcat(&sborder, " ");
+            }
+            if (d == D_PAUSE) {
+                /* da PAUSE nicht in ein shortdirections[d] umgesetzt wird (ist
+                 * hier keine normale direction), muss jede PAUSE einzeln
+                 * herausgefiltert und explizit gesetzt werden */
+                sbs_strcat(&sborder, LOC(lang, parameters[P_PAUSE]));
+            }
+            else {
+                sbs_strcat(&sborder, LOC(lang, shortdirections[d]));
             }
-            obuf += str_strlcat(obuf, LOC(lang, shortdirections[d]), sizeof(neworder) - (obuf - neworder));
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/move.test.c b/src/move.test.c
index a2fa4e760..f8c11114f 100644
--- a/src/move.test.c
+++ b/src/move.test.c
@@ -495,6 +495,7 @@ static void test_follow_ship_msg(CuTest * tc) {
 
     follow_ship(u, ord);
 
+    CuAssertPtrEquals(tc, r, u->region);
     CuAssertPtrNotNull(tc, msg = test_find_messagetype(u->faction->msgs, "error18"));
     p = msg->parameters[2].v;
     CuAssertPtrNotNull(tc, p);
diff --git a/src/util/strings.c b/src/util/strings.c
index f4bbd54a5..ef351ab1f 100644
--- a/src/util/strings.c
+++ b/src/util/strings.c
@@ -275,6 +275,11 @@ void sbs_strcpy(struct sbstring *sbs, const char *str)
     sbs->end = sbs->begin + len;
 }
 
+size_t sbs_length(const struct sbstring *sbs)
+{
+    return sbs->end - sbs->begin;
+}
+
 char *str_unescape(char *str) {
     char *read = str, *write = str;
     while (*read) {
diff --git a/src/util/strings.h b/src/util/strings.h
index 2d93b414e..bd6f0de58 100644
--- a/src/util/strings.h
+++ b/src/util/strings.h
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ extern "C" {
     void sbs_strcat(struct sbstring *sbs, const char *str);
     void sbs_strncat(struct sbstring *sbs, const char *str, size_t size);
     void sbs_strcpy(struct sbstring *sbs, const char *str);
+    size_t sbs_length(const struct sbstring *sbs);
 
     /* benchmark for units:
      * JENKINS_HASH: 5.25 misses/hit (with good cache behavior)