diff --git a/include/usage.h b/include/usage.h
index e571d2ba3..036cf9db7 100644
--- a/include/usage.h
+++ b/include/usage.h
@@ -2824,9 +2824,21 @@
        "-rw-------    1 andersen andersen        0 Apr 25 17:10 /tmp/temp.mWiLjM\n"
 
 #define modprobe_trivial_usage \
-       "[-knqrsv] MODULE [symbol=value...]"
+	IF_MODPROBE_SMALL("[-qfwrsv] MODULE [symbol=value...]") \
+	IF_NOT_MODPROBE_SMALL("[-" \
+		IF_FEATURE_2_4_MODULES("k")"nqrsv" \
+		IF_FEATURE_MODPROBE_BLACKLIST("b")"] MODULE [symbol=value...]")
 #define modprobe_full_usage "\n\n" \
        "Options:" \
+	IF_MODPROBE_SMALL( \
+     "\n	-q	Quiet" \
+     "\n	-f	Force" \
+     "\n	-w	Wait for unload" \
+     "\n	-r	Remove module (stacks) or do autoclean" \
+     "\n	-s	Report via syslog instead of stderr" \
+     "\n	-v	Verbose" \
+	) \
+	IF_NOT_MODPROBE_SMALL( \
 	IF_FEATURE_2_4_MODULES( \
      "\n	-k	Make module autoclean-able" \
 	) \
@@ -2837,7 +2849,8 @@
      "\n	-v	Verbose" \
 	IF_FEATURE_MODPROBE_BLACKLIST( \
      "\n	-b	Apply blacklist to module names too" \
-        )
+	) \
+	)
 
 #define modprobe_notes_usage \
 "modprobe can (un)load a stack of modules, passing each module options (when\n" \
diff --git a/modutils/modprobe-small.c b/modutils/modprobe-small.c
index bc80723fa..e2359d042 100644
--- a/modutils/modprobe-small.c
+++ b/modutils/modprobe-small.c
@@ -44,11 +44,13 @@ struct globals {
 	char *module_load_options;
 	smallint dep_bb_seen;
 	smallint wrote_dep_bb_ok;
-	int module_count;
+	unsigned module_count;
 	int module_found_idx;
-	int stringbuf_idx;
-	char stringbuf[32 * 1024]; /* some modules have lots of stuff */
+	unsigned stringbuf_idx;
+	unsigned stringbuf_size;
+	char *stringbuf; /* some modules have lots of stuff */
 	/* for example, drivers/media/video/saa7134/saa7134.ko */
+	/* therefore having a fixed biggish buffer is not wise */
 };
 #define G (*ptr_to_globals)
 #define modinfo             (G.modinfo            )
@@ -58,16 +60,29 @@ struct globals {
 #define module_found_idx    (G.module_found_idx   )
 #define module_load_options (G.module_load_options)
 #define stringbuf_idx       (G.stringbuf_idx      )
+#define stringbuf_size      (G.stringbuf_size     )
 #define stringbuf           (G.stringbuf          )
 #define INIT_G() do { \
 	SET_PTR_TO_GLOBALS(xzalloc(sizeof(G))); \
 } while (0)
 
+static void append(const char *s)
+{
+	unsigned len = strlen(s);
+	if (stringbuf_idx + len + 15 > stringbuf_size) {
+		stringbuf_size = stringbuf_idx + len + 127;
+		dbg2_error_msg("grow stringbuf to %u", stringbuf_size);
+		stringbuf = xrealloc(stringbuf, stringbuf_size);
+	}
+	memcpy(stringbuf + stringbuf_idx, s, len);
+	stringbuf_idx += len;
+}
 
 static void appendc(char c)
 {
-	if (stringbuf_idx < sizeof(stringbuf))
-		stringbuf[stringbuf_idx++] = c;
+	/* We appendc() only after append(), + 15 trick in append()
+	 * makes it unnecessary to check for overflow here */
+	stringbuf[stringbuf_idx++] = c;
 }
 
 static void bksp(void)
@@ -76,15 +91,6 @@ static void bksp(void)
 		stringbuf_idx--;
 }
 
-static void append(const char *s)
-{
-	size_t len = strlen(s);
-	if (stringbuf_idx + len < sizeof(stringbuf)) {
-		memcpy(stringbuf + stringbuf_idx, s, len);
-		stringbuf_idx += len;
-	}
-}
-
 static void reset_stringbuf(void)
 {
 	stringbuf_idx = 0;
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@ static void reset_stringbuf(void)
 
 static char* copy_stringbuf(void)
 {
-	char *copy = xmalloc(stringbuf_idx);
+	char *copy = xzalloc(stringbuf_idx + 1); /* terminating NUL */
 	return memcpy(copy, stringbuf, stringbuf_idx);
 }
 
@@ -216,7 +222,6 @@ static void parse_module(module_info *info, const char *pathname)
 		pos = (ptr - module_image);
 	}
 	bksp(); /* remove last ' ' */
-	appendc('\0');
 	info->aliases = copy_stringbuf();
 	replace(info->aliases, '-', '_');
 
@@ -229,7 +234,6 @@ static void parse_module(module_info *info, const char *pathname)
 		dbg2_error_msg("dep:'%s'", ptr);
 		append(ptr);
 	}
-	appendc('\0');
 	info->deps = copy_stringbuf();
 
 	free(module_image);