diff --git a/progress.c b/progress.c
index 76a88c573f..29378caa05 100644
--- a/progress.c
+++ b/progress.c
@@ -243,21 +243,18 @@ void stop_progress_msg(struct progress **p_progress, const char *msg)
 	*p_progress = NULL;
 	if (progress->last_value != -1) {
 		/* Force the last update */
-		char buf[128], *bufp;
-		size_t len = strlen(msg) + 5;
+		char *buf;
 		struct throughput *tp = progress->throughput;
 
-		bufp = (len < sizeof(buf)) ? buf : xmallocz(len);
 		if (tp) {
 			unsigned int rate = !tp->avg_misecs ? 0 :
 					tp->avg_bytes / tp->avg_misecs;
 			throughput_string(&tp->display, tp->curr_total, rate);
 		}
 		progress_update = 1;
-		xsnprintf(bufp, len + 1, ", %s.\n", msg);
-		display(progress, progress->last_value, bufp);
-		if (buf != bufp)
-			free(bufp);
+		buf = xstrfmt(", %s.\n", msg);
+		display(progress, progress->last_value, buf);
+		free(buf);
 	}
 	clear_progress_signal();
 	if (progress->throughput)