diff --git a/src/pooptmodule.c b/src/pooptmodule.c
index 7d40398d..8bf0a22e 100644
--- a/src/pooptmodule.c
+++ b/src/pooptmodule.c
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ PyDoc_STRVAR(poopt_cut_text_doc, "cut_text(text, width)\n\n\nReturn a list of tw
 
 static PyObject *poopt_cut_text(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
-  unsigned char *buffer;
-  int width;
+  const unsigned char *buffer;
+  const int width;
+  const size_t buffer_len;
 
-  if (PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "si", &buffer, &width) == 0)
+  if (PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "is#", &width, &buffer, &buffer_len) == 0)
     return NULL;
 
   int bpos = 0;			/* the real position in the char* */
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ static PyObject *poopt_cut_text(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
 		     of colors attribute be ignored */
   PyObject* retlist = PyList_New(0);
 
-  while (buffer[bpos])
+  while (bpos < buffer_len)
     {
       if (buffer[bpos] == ' ')
 	last_space = spos;
diff --git a/src/windows.py b/src/windows.py
index cc9c09cd..f10b1421 100644
--- a/src/windows.py
+++ b/src/windows.py
@@ -909,7 +909,7 @@ class TextWin(Win):
                 offset += 1
             if get_theme().CHAR_TIME_RIGHT and message.str_time:
                 offset += 1
-        lines = cut_text(txt, self.width-offset)
+        lines = cut_text(self.width-offset, txt)
         prepend = ''
         attrs = []
         for line in lines: