diff --git a/st.c b/st.c
index 77c3e8a..683493d 100644
--- a/st.c
+++ b/st.c
@@ -1643,7 +1643,7 @@ csihandle(void)
 			ttywrite(vtiden, strlen(vtiden), 0);
 		break;
 	case 'b': /* REP -- if last char is printable print it <n> more times */
-		DEFAULT(csiescseq.arg[0], 1);
+		LIMIT(csiescseq.arg[0], 1, 65535);
 		if (term.lastc)
 			while (csiescseq.arg[0]-- > 0)
 				tputc(term.lastc);