diff --git a/apps/playlist.c b/apps/playlist.c
index 0b5662b47c..2bdc1f39cc 100644
--- a/apps/playlist.c
+++ b/apps/playlist.c
@@ -2887,11 +2887,8 @@ int playlist_create_ex(struct playlist_info* playlist,
 
         if (index_buffer)
         {
-            size_t unit_size = sizeof (*playlist->indices);
-#ifdef HAVE_DIRCACHE
-            unit_size += sizeof (*playlist->dcfrefs);
-#endif
-            int num_indices = index_buffer_size / unit_size;
+            int num_indices = index_buffer_size /
+                              playlist_get_required_bufsz(playlist, false, 1);
 
             if (num_indices > global_settings.max_files_in_playlist)
                 num_indices = global_settings.max_files_in_playlist;
@@ -3525,6 +3522,26 @@ char *playlist_get_name(const struct playlist_info* playlist, char *buf,
     return buf;
 }
 
+/* return size of buffer needed for playlist to initialize num_indices entries */
+size_t playlist_get_required_bufsz(struct playlist_info* playlist,
+                                             bool include_namebuf,
+                                                   int num_indices)
+{
+    size_t namebuf = 0;
+
+    if (!playlist)
+        playlist = &current_playlist;
+
+    size_t unit_size = sizeof (*playlist->indices);
+    #ifdef HAVE_DIRCACHE
+            unit_size += sizeof (*playlist->dcfrefs);
+    #endif
+    if (include_namebuf)
+        namebuf = AVERAGE_FILENAME_LENGTH * global_settings.max_files_in_dir;
+
+    return (num_indices * unit_size) + namebuf;
+}
+
 /* Fills info structure with information about track at specified index.
    Returns 0 on success and -1 on failure */
 int playlist_get_track_info(struct playlist_info* playlist, int index,
diff --git a/apps/playlist.h b/apps/playlist.h
index 6048001ff7..220a577fb2 100644
--- a/apps/playlist.h
+++ b/apps/playlist.h
@@ -181,6 +181,8 @@ char *playlist_name(const struct playlist_info* playlist, char *buf,
                     int buf_size);
 char *playlist_get_name(const struct playlist_info* playlist, char *buf,
                         int buf_size);
+size_t playlist_get_required_bufsz(struct playlist_info* playlist,
+                                   bool include_namebuf, int num_indices);
 int playlist_get_track_info(struct playlist_info* playlist, int index,
                             struct playlist_track_info* info);
 int playlist_save(struct playlist_info* playlist, char *filename,
diff --git a/apps/playlist_viewer.c b/apps/playlist_viewer.c
index 54451992a7..751f1e21a7 100644
--- a/apps/playlist_viewer.c
+++ b/apps/playlist_viewer.c
@@ -362,9 +362,14 @@ static bool playlist_viewer_init(struct playlist_viewer * viewer,
 
         if (is_playing)
         {
-            /* Something is playing, use half the plugin buffer for playlist
-               indices */
-            index_buffer_size = buffer_size / 2;
+            /* Something is playing, try to accommodate
+            *  global_settings.max_files_in_playlist entries */
+            index_buffer_size = playlist_get_required_bufsz(viewer->playlist,
+                                   false, global_settings.max_files_in_playlist);
+
+            if ((unsigned)index_buffer_size >= buffer_size - MAX_PATH)
+                index_buffer_size = buffer_size - (MAX_PATH + 1);
+
             index_buffer = buffer;
         }