diff --git a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
index b3ab8a974afaa1895409a7f1247564e774fe88aa..e6e33b3110fa017552c9373f0b66a7aaf99ff120 100644
--- a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
+++ b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
@@ -1332,7 +1332,7 @@ static int ptr_to_user(struct v4l2_ext_control *c,
 	case V4L2_CTRL_TYPE_STRING:
 		len = strlen(ptr.p_char);
 		if (c->size < len + 1) {
-			c->size = len + 1;
+			c->size = ctrl->elem_size;
 			return -ENOSPC;
 		}
 		return copy_to_user(c->string, ptr.p_char, len + 1) ?