diff --git a/chardev/char-socket.c b/chardev/char-socket.c
index 67e3334423..8a0406cc1e 100644
--- a/chardev/char-socket.c
+++ b/chardev/char-socket.c
@@ -496,9 +496,9 @@ static gboolean tcp_chr_read(QIOChannel *chan, GIOCondition cond, void *opaque)
         s->max_size <= 0) {
         return TRUE;
     }
-    len = sizeof(buf);
-    if (len > s->max_size) {
-        len = s->max_size;
+    len = tcp_chr_read_poll(opaque);
+    if (len > sizeof(buf)) {
+        len = sizeof(buf);
     }
     size = tcp_chr_recv(chr, (void *)buf, len);
     if (size == 0 || (size == -1 && errno != EAGAIN)) {