diff --git a/src/deh_lua.c b/src/deh_lua.c
index 9c9e62a69..0effe4fa7 100644
--- a/src/deh_lua.c
+++ b/src/deh_lua.c
@@ -60,13 +60,17 @@ static inline int lib_freeslot(lua_State *L)
 		else if (fastcmp(type, "SPR"))
 		{
 			spritenum_t j;
+
+			if (strlen(word) > MAXSPRITENAME)
+				return luaL_error(L, "Sprite name is longer than %d characters\n", strlen(word));
+
 			for (j = SPR_FIRSTFREESLOT; j <= SPR_LASTFREESLOT; j++)
 			{
 				if (used_spr[(j-SPR_FIRSTFREESLOT)/8] & (1<<(j%8)))
 					continue; // Already allocated, next.
 				// Found a free slot!
 				CONS_Printf("Sprite SPR_%s allocated.\n",word);
-				strncpy(sprnames[j],word,4);
+				strcpy(sprnames[j], word);
 				used_spr[(j-SPR_FIRSTFREESLOT)/8] |= 1<<(j%8); // Okay, this sprite slot has been named now.
 				// Lua needs to update the value in _G if it exists
 				LUA_UpdateSprName(word, j);
@@ -447,7 +451,7 @@ static int ScanConstants(lua_State *L, boolean mathlib, const char *word)
 	else if (fastncmp("SPR_",word,4)) {
 		p = word+4;
 		for (i = 0; i < NUMSPRITES; i++)
-			if (fastncmp(p,sprnames[i],4)) {
+			if (fastcmp(p,sprnames[i])) {
 				// updating overridden sprnames is not implemented for soc parser,
 				// so don't use cache
 				if (mathlib)
@@ -729,12 +733,12 @@ static inline int lib_getenum(lua_State *L)
 // If a sprname has been "cached" to _G, update it to a new value.
 void LUA_UpdateSprName(const char *name, lua_Integer value)
 {
-	char fullname[9] = "SPR_XXXX";
+	char fullname[4 + MAXSPRITENAME + 1] = "SPR_";
 
 	if (!gL)
 		return;
 
-	strncpy(&fullname[4], name, 4);
+	strcpy(&fullname[4], name);
 	lua_pushstring(gL, fullname);
 	lua_rawget(gL, LUA_GLOBALSINDEX);
 
diff --git a/src/deh_soc.c b/src/deh_soc.c
index 6b90b6a86..fe43cd283 100644
--- a/src/deh_soc.c
+++ b/src/deh_soc.c
@@ -440,12 +440,15 @@ void readfreeslots(MYFILE *f)
 				S_AddSoundFx(word, false, 0, false);
 			else if (fastcmp(type, "SPR"))
 			{
+				if (strlen(word) > MAXSPRITENAME)
+					I_Error("Sprite name is longer than %d characters\n", strlen(word));
+
 				for (i = SPR_FIRSTFREESLOT; i <= SPR_LASTFREESLOT; i++)
 				{
 					if (used_spr[(i-SPR_FIRSTFREESLOT)/8] & (1<<(i%8)))
 						continue; // Already allocated, next.
 					// Found a free slot!
-					strncpy(sprnames[i],word,4);
+					strcpy(sprnames[i], word);
 					used_spr[(i-SPR_FIRSTFREESLOT)/8] |= 1<<(i%8); // Okay, this sprite slot has been named now.
 					// Lua needs to update the value in _G if it exists
 					LUA_UpdateSprName(word, i);
@@ -4178,7 +4181,7 @@ spritenum_t get_sprite(const char *word)
 	if (fastncmp("SPR_",word,4))
 		word += 4; // take off the SPR_
 	for (i = 0; i < NUMSPRITES; i++)
-		if (memcmp(word,sprnames[i],4)==0)
+		if (!strcmp(word, sprnames[i]))
 			return i;
 	deh_warning("Couldn't find sprite named 'SPR_%s'",word);
 	return SPR_NULL;
diff --git a/src/hardware/hw_md2.c b/src/hardware/hw_md2.c
index 656fbc4a6..0bb8de851 100644
--- a/src/hardware/hw_md2.c
+++ b/src/hardware/hw_md2.c
@@ -571,19 +571,15 @@ void HWR_LoadModels(void)
 		}
 
 		// Add sprite models.
-		// Must be 4 characters long exactly. Otherwise, it's not a sprite name.
-		if (len == 4)
+		for (i = 0; i < numsprites; i++)
 		{
-			for (i = 0; i < numsprites; i++)
+			if (stricmp(name, sprnames[i]) == 0)
 			{
-				if (stricmp(name, sprnames[i]) == 0)
-				{
-					md2_models[i].scale = scale;
-					md2_models[i].offset = offset;
-					md2_models[i].found = true;
-					strcpy(md2_models[i].filename, filename);
-					goto modelfound;
-				}
+				md2_models[i].scale = scale;
+				md2_models[i].offset = offset;
+				md2_models[i].found = true;
+				strcpy(md2_models[i].filename, filename);
+				goto modelfound;
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/info.c b/src/info.c
index ab46cdbc7..9b33a57ab 100644
--- a/src/info.c
+++ b/src/info.c
@@ -26,9 +26,10 @@
 #include "hardware/hw_light.h"
 #endif
 
+
 // Hey, moron! If you change this table, don't forget about the sprite enum in info.h and the sprite lights in hw_light.c!
 // For the sake of constant merge conflicts, let's spread this out
-char sprnames[NUMSPRITES + 1][5] =
+char sprnames[NUMSPRITES + 1][MAXSPRITENAME + 1] =
 {
 	"NULL", // invisible object
 	"UNKN",
@@ -525,7 +526,7 @@ char sprnames[NUMSPRITES + 1][5] =
 	"GWLR",
 };
 
-char spr2names[NUMPLAYERSPRITES][5] =
+char spr2names[NUMPLAYERSPRITES][MAXSPRITENAME + 1] =
 {
 	"STND",
 	"WAIT",
diff --git a/src/info.h b/src/info.h
index 9475b2302..0361f6428 100644
--- a/src/info.h
+++ b/src/info.h
@@ -575,6 +575,7 @@ extern int actionsoverridden[NUMACTIONS][MAX_ACTION_RECURSION];
 #define NUMMOBJFREESLOTS 1024
 #define NUMSPRITEFREESLOTS NUMMOBJFREESLOTS
 #define NUMSTATEFREESLOTS (NUMMOBJFREESLOTS*8)
+#define MAXSPRITENAME 64
 
 // Hey, moron! If you change this table, don't forget about sprnames in info.c and the sprite lights in hw_light.c!
 typedef enum sprite
@@ -4383,8 +4384,8 @@ typedef struct
 } state_t;
 
 extern state_t states[NUMSTATES];
-extern char sprnames[NUMSPRITES + 1][5];
-extern char spr2names[NUMPLAYERSPRITES][5];
+extern char sprnames[NUMSPRITES + 1][MAXSPRITENAME + 1];
+extern char spr2names[NUMPLAYERSPRITES][MAXSPRITENAME + 1];
 extern playersprite_t spr2defaults[NUMPLAYERSPRITES];
 extern state_t *astate;
 extern playersprite_t free_spr2;
diff --git a/src/r_picformats.c b/src/r_picformats.c
index e4a59f211..a75f15baf 100644
--- a/src/r_picformats.c
+++ b/src/r_picformats.c
@@ -1570,7 +1570,7 @@ static void R_ParseSpriteInfo(boolean spr2)
 	spriteinfo_t *info;
 	char *sprinfoToken;
 	size_t sprinfoTokenLength;
-	char newSpriteName[5]; // no longer dynamically allocated
+	char newSpriteName[MAXSPRITENAME + 1]; // no longer dynamically allocated
 	spritenum_t sprnum = NUMSPRITES;
 	playersprite_t spr2num = NUMPLAYERSPRITES;
 	INT32 i;
@@ -1584,17 +1584,10 @@ static void R_ParseSpriteInfo(boolean spr2)
 		I_Error("Error parsing SPRTINFO lump: Unexpected end of file where sprite name should be");
 	}
 	sprinfoTokenLength = strlen(sprinfoToken);
-	if (sprinfoTokenLength != 4)
-	{
-		I_Error("Error parsing SPRTINFO lump: Sprite name \"%s\" isn't 4 characters long",sprinfoToken);
-	}
-	else
-	{
-		memset(&newSpriteName, 0, 5);
-		M_Memcpy(newSpriteName, sprinfoToken, sprinfoTokenLength);
-		// ^^ we've confirmed that the token is == 4 characters so it will never overflow a 5 byte char buffer
-		strupr(newSpriteName); // Just do this now so we don't have to worry about it
-	}
+	if (sprinfoTokenLength > MAXSPRITENAME)
+		I_Error("Error parsing SPRTINFO lump: Sprite name \"%s\" is longer than %d characters", sprinfoToken, MAXSPRITENAME);
+	strcpy(newSpriteName, sprinfoToken);
+	strupr(newSpriteName); // Just do this now so we don't have to worry about it
 	Z_Free(sprinfoToken);
 
 	if (!spr2)
@@ -1603,7 +1596,7 @@ static void R_ParseSpriteInfo(boolean spr2)
 		{
 			if (i == NUMSPRITES)
 				I_Error("Error parsing SPRTINFO lump: Unknown sprite name \"%s\"", newSpriteName);
-			if (!memcmp(newSpriteName,sprnames[i],4))
+			if (!strcmp(newSpriteName, sprnames[i]))
 			{
 				sprnum = i;
 				break;
diff --git a/src/r_things.c b/src/r_things.c
index d56b473b8..1a17def1d 100644
--- a/src/r_things.c
+++ b/src/r_things.c
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ boolean R_AddSingleSpriteDef(const char *sprname, spritedef_t *spritedef, UINT16
 		{
 			case SRF_NONE:
 			// no rotations were found for that frame at all
-			I_Error("R_AddSingleSpriteDef: No patches found for %.4s frame %c", sprname, R_Frame2Char(frame));
+			I_Error("R_AddSingleSpriteDef: No patches found for %s frame %c", sprname, R_Frame2Char(frame));
 			break;
 
 			case SRF_SINGLE:
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ boolean R_AddSingleSpriteDef(const char *sprname, spritedef_t *spritedef, UINT16
 			case SRF_2D: // both Left and Right rotations
 			// we test to see whether the left and right slots are present
 			if ((sprtemp[frame].lumppat[2] == LUMPERROR) || (sprtemp[frame].lumppat[6] == LUMPERROR))
-				I_Error("R_AddSingleSpriteDef: Sprite %.4s frame %c is missing rotations (L-R mode)",
+				I_Error("R_AddSingleSpriteDef: Sprite %s frame %c is missing rotations (L-R mode)",
 				sprname, R_Frame2Char(frame));
 			break;
 
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ boolean R_AddSingleSpriteDef(const char *sprname, spritedef_t *spritedef, UINT16
 				// we test the patch lump, or the id lump whatever
 				// if it was not loaded the two are LUMPERROR
 				if (sprtemp[frame].lumppat[rotation] == LUMPERROR)
-					I_Error("R_AddSingleSpriteDef: Sprite %.4s frame %c is missing rotations (1-%c mode)",
+					I_Error("R_AddSingleSpriteDef: Sprite %s frame %c is missing rotations (1-%c mode)",
 					        sprname, R_Frame2Char(frame), ((sprtemp[frame].rotate & SRF_3DGE) ? 'G' : '8'));
 			break;
 		}