diff --git a/quakespasm/Quake/common.c b/quakespasm/Quake/common.c
index 45b80096..a5d7f5f3 100644
--- a/quakespasm/Quake/common.c
+++ b/quakespasm/Quake/common.c
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ int q_vsnprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, va_list args)
 
 	if (ret < 0)
 		ret = (int)size;
-
+	if (size == 0)	/* no buffer */
+		return ret;
 	if ((size_t)ret >= size)
 		str[size - 1] = '\0';