diff --git a/rpc/ipc_unix.go b/rpc/ipc_unix.go
index 249a9cf044dc..9876347708a6 100644
--- a/rpc/ipc_unix.go
+++ b/rpc/ipc_unix.go
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ import (
 
 // ipcListen will create a Unix socket on the given endpoint.
 func ipcListen(endpoint string) (net.Listener, error) {
-	if len(endpoint) > int(max_path_size) {
-		log.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("The ipc endpoint is longer than %d characters. ", max_path_size),
+	// account for null-terminator too
+	if len(endpoint)+1 > int(max_path_size) {
+		log.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("The ipc endpoint is longer than %d characters. ", max_path_size-1),
 			"endpoint", endpoint)
 	}