diff --git a/bin/rcp/extern.h b/bin/rcp/extern.h
index a07c3a6730e9..ebd2bebe1034 100644
--- a/bin/rcp/extern.h
+++ b/bin/rcp/extern.h
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
  */
 
 typedef struct {
-	int cnt;
+	size_t cnt;
 	char *buf;
 } BUF;
 
diff --git a/bin/rcp/rcp.c b/bin/rcp/rcp.c
index 8f0a01d4c62c..b34506df2205 100644
--- a/bin/rcp/rcp.c
+++ b/bin/rcp/rcp.c
@@ -670,14 +670,17 @@ sink(int argc, char *argv[])
 		if (*cp++ != ' ')
 			SCREWUP("size not delimited");
 		if (targisdir) {
-			static char *namebuf;
-			static int cursize;
+			static char *namebuf = NULL;
+			static size_t cursize;
 			size_t need;
 
 			need = strlen(targ) + strlen(cp) + 250;
 			if (need > cursize) {
+				if (namebuf != NULL)
+					free(namebuf);
 				if (!(namebuf = malloc(need)))
 					run_err("%s", strerror(errno));
+				cursize = need;
 			}
 			(void)snprintf(namebuf, need, "%s%s%s", targ,
 			    *targ ? "/" : "", cp);