diff --git a/alias.c b/alias.c
index c471538020..00abde0817 100644
--- a/alias.c
+++ b/alias.c
@@ -46,14 +46,16 @@ void list_aliases(struct string_list *list)
 
 #define SPLIT_CMDLINE_BAD_ENDING 1
 #define SPLIT_CMDLINE_UNCLOSED_QUOTE 2
+#define SPLIT_CMDLINE_ARGC_OVERFLOW 3
 static const char *split_cmdline_errors[] = {
 	N_("cmdline ends with \\"),
-	N_("unclosed quote")
+	N_("unclosed quote"),
+	N_("too many arguments"),
 };
 
 int split_cmdline(char *cmdline, const char ***argv)
 {
-	int src, dst, count = 0, size = 16;
+	size_t src, dst, count = 0, size = 16;
 	char quoted = 0;
 
 	ALLOC_ARRAY(*argv, size);
@@ -96,6 +98,11 @@ int split_cmdline(char *cmdline, const char ***argv)
 		return -SPLIT_CMDLINE_UNCLOSED_QUOTE;
 	}
 
+	if (count >= INT_MAX) {
+		FREE_AND_NULL(*argv);
+		return -SPLIT_CMDLINE_ARGC_OVERFLOW;
+	}
+
 	ALLOC_GROW(*argv, count + 1, size);
 	(*argv)[count] = NULL;