diff --git a/sys/kern/kern_exec.c b/sys/kern/kern_exec.c
index e129f9238f18..e148e0b1f20d 100644
--- a/sys/kern/kern_exec.c
+++ b/sys/kern/kern_exec.c
@@ -1128,7 +1128,9 @@ exec_new_vmspace(struct image_params *imgp, struct sysentvec *sv)
 	} else {
 		ssiz = maxssiz;
 	}
-	imgp->eff_stack_sz = ssiz;
+	imgp->eff_stack_sz = lim_cur(curthread, RLIMIT_STACK);
+	if (ssiz < imgp->eff_stack_sz)
+		imgp->eff_stack_sz = ssiz;
 	stack_addr = sv->sv_usrstack - ssiz;
 	error = vm_map_stack(map, stack_addr, (vm_size_t)ssiz,
 	    obj != NULL && imgp->stack_prot != 0 ? imgp->stack_prot :