diff --git a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
index 3b991f9276..0609adcab3 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoin-cli.cpp
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ Object CallRPC(const string& strMethod, const Array& params)
     // Receive HTTP reply message headers and body
     map<string, string> mapHeaders;
     string strReply;
-    ReadHTTPMessage(stream, mapHeaders, strReply, nProto);
+    ReadHTTPMessage(stream, mapHeaders, strReply, nProto, std::numeric_limits<size_t>::max());
 
     if (nStatus == HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED)
         throw runtime_error("incorrect rpcuser or rpcpassword (authorization failed)");
diff --git a/src/rpcprotocol.cpp b/src/rpcprotocol.cpp
index 9e18ca847e..643208b3b6 100644
--- a/src/rpcprotocol.cpp
+++ b/src/rpcprotocol.cpp
@@ -93,8 +93,7 @@ string HTTPError(int nStatus, bool keepalive, bool headersOnly)
                      headersOnly, "text/plain");
 }
 
-string HTTPReply(int nStatus, const string& strMsg, bool keepalive,
-                 bool headersOnly, const char *contentType)
+string HTTPReplyHeader(int nStatus, bool keepalive, size_t contentLength, const char *contentType)
 {
     return strprintf(
             "HTTP/1.1 %d %s\r\n"
@@ -103,17 +102,25 @@ string HTTPReply(int nStatus, const string& strMsg, bool keepalive,
             "Content-Length: %u\r\n"
             "Content-Type: %s\r\n"
             "Server: bitcoin-json-rpc/%s\r\n"
-            "\r\n"
-            "%s",
+            "\r\n",
         nStatus,
         httpStatusDescription(nStatus),
         rfc1123Time(),
         keepalive ? "keep-alive" : "close",
-        (headersOnly ? 0 : strMsg.size()),
+        contentLength,
         contentType,
-        FormatFullVersion(),
-        (headersOnly ? "" : strMsg.c_str())
-        );
+        FormatFullVersion());
+}
+
+string HTTPReply(int nStatus, const string& strMsg, bool keepalive,
+                 bool headersOnly, const char *contentType)
+{
+    if (headersOnly)
+    {
+        return HTTPReplyHeader(nStatus, keepalive, 0, contentType);
+    } else {
+        return HTTPReplyHeader(nStatus, keepalive, strMsg.size(), contentType) + strMsg;
+    }
 }
 
 bool ReadHTTPRequestLine(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, int &proto,
@@ -194,14 +201,14 @@ int ReadHTTPHeaders(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, map<string, string>& mapHe
 
 int ReadHTTPMessage(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, map<string,
                     string>& mapHeadersRet, string& strMessageRet,
-                    int nProto)
+                    int nProto, size_t max_size)
 {
     mapHeadersRet.clear();
     strMessageRet = "";
 
     // Read header
     int nLen = ReadHTTPHeaders(stream, mapHeadersRet);
-    if (nLen < 0 || nLen > (int)MAX_SIZE)
+    if (nLen < 0 || (size_t)nLen > max_size)
         return HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
 
     // Read message
diff --git a/src/rpcprotocol.h b/src/rpcprotocol.h
index 5627077bfb..8f05c08482 100644
--- a/src/rpcprotocol.h
+++ b/src/rpcprotocol.h
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ private:
 std::string HTTPPost(const std::string& strMsg, const std::map<std::string,std::string>& mapRequestHeaders);
 std::string HTTPError(int nStatus, bool keepalive,
                       bool headerOnly = false);
+std::string HTTPReplyHeader(int nStatus, bool keepalive, size_t contentLength,
+                      const char *contentType = "application/json");
 std::string HTTPReply(int nStatus, const std::string& strMsg, bool keepalive,
                       bool headerOnly = false,
                       const char *contentType = "application/json");
@@ -151,7 +153,7 @@ bool ReadHTTPRequestLine(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, int &proto,
 int ReadHTTPStatus(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, int &proto);
 int ReadHTTPHeaders(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, std::map<std::string, std::string>& mapHeadersRet);
 int ReadHTTPMessage(std::basic_istream<char>& stream, std::map<std::string, std::string>& mapHeadersRet,
-                    std::string& strMessageRet, int nProto);
+                    std::string& strMessageRet, int nProto, size_t max_size);
 std::string JSONRPCRequest(const std::string& strMethod, const json_spirit::Array& params, const json_spirit::Value& id);
 json_spirit::Object JSONRPCReplyObj(const json_spirit::Value& result, const json_spirit::Value& error, const json_spirit::Value& id);
 std::string JSONRPCReply(const json_spirit::Value& result, const json_spirit::Value& error, const json_spirit::Value& id);
diff --git a/src/rpcserver.cpp b/src/rpcserver.cpp
index 716a7fba6a..e7ed73310c 100644
--- a/src/rpcserver.cpp
+++ b/src/rpcserver.cpp
@@ -862,7 +862,7 @@ static bool HTTPReq_JSONRPC(AcceptedConnection *conn,
         else
             throw JSONRPCError(RPC_PARSE_ERROR, "Top-level object parse error");
 
-        conn->stream() << HTTPReply(HTTP_OK, strReply, fRun) << std::flush;
+        conn->stream() << HTTPReplyHeader(HTTP_OK, fRun, strReply.size()) << strReply << std::flush;
     }
     catch (Object& objError)
     {
@@ -891,7 +891,7 @@ void ServiceConnection(AcceptedConnection *conn)
             break;
 
         // Read HTTP message headers and body
-        ReadHTTPMessage(conn->stream(), mapHeaders, strRequest, nProto);
+        ReadHTTPMessage(conn->stream(), mapHeaders, strRequest, nProto, MAX_SIZE);
 
         // HTTP Keep-Alive is false; close connection immediately
         if (mapHeaders["connection"] == "close")