diff --git a/lib/http.c b/lib/http.c
index 5256ee7ead..03d1959e29 100644
--- a/lib/http.c
+++ b/lib/http.c
@@ -4238,11 +4238,9 @@ CURLcode Curl_http_req_make(struct httpreq **preq,
   struct httpreq *req;
   CURLcode result = CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
 
-  DEBUGASSERT(method);
-  if(m_len + 1 > sizeof(req->method))
-    return CURLE_BAD_FUNCTION_ARGUMENT;
+  DEBUGASSERT(method && m_len);
 
-  req = calloc(1, sizeof(*req));
+  req = calloc(1, sizeof(*req) + m_len);
   if(!req)
     goto out;
   memcpy(req->method, method, m_len);
@@ -4394,11 +4392,9 @@ CURLcode Curl_http_req_make2(struct httpreq **preq,
   CURLcode result = CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
   CURLUcode uc;
 
-  DEBUGASSERT(method);
-  if(m_len + 1 > sizeof(req->method))
-    return CURLE_BAD_FUNCTION_ARGUMENT;
+  DEBUGASSERT(method && m_len);
 
-  req = calloc(1, sizeof(*req));
+  req = calloc(1, sizeof(*req) + m_len);
   if(!req)
     goto out;
   memcpy(req->method, method, m_len);
diff --git a/lib/http.h b/lib/http.h
index 66abdbd201..ba7a121d09 100644
--- a/lib/http.h
+++ b/lib/http.h
@@ -218,12 +218,12 @@ CURLcode Curl_http_decode_status(int *pstatus, const char *s, size_t len);
  * All about a core HTTP request, excluding body and trailers
  */
 struct httpreq {
-  char method[24];
+  struct dynhds headers;
+  struct dynhds trailers;
   char *scheme;
   char *authority;
   char *path;
-  struct dynhds headers;
-  struct dynhds trailers;
+  char method[1];
 };
 
 /**