diff --git a/common/ipc-client.c b/common/ipc-client.c
index d30212d25..78dec010f 100644
--- a/common/ipc-client.c
+++ b/common/ipc-client.c
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200809L
+#include <limits.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
@@ -94,9 +95,15 @@ struct ipc_response *ipc_recv_response(int socketfd) {
 		goto error_1;
 	}
 
-	memcpy(&response->size, data + sizeof(ipc_magic), sizeof(uint32_t));
+	uint32_t size;
+	memcpy(&size, data + sizeof(ipc_magic), sizeof(uint32_t));
+	response->size = size;
 	memcpy(&response->type, data + sizeof(ipc_magic) + sizeof(uint32_t), sizeof(uint32_t));
 
+	if (response->size >= SSIZE_MAX) {
+		sway_abort("Unable to receive overly long IPC response");
+	}
+
 	char *payload = malloc(response->size + 1);
 	if (!payload) {
 		goto error_2;
@@ -126,11 +133,16 @@ void free_ipc_response(struct ipc_response *response) {
 	free(response);
 }
 
-char *ipc_single_command(int socketfd, uint32_t type, const char *payload, uint32_t *len) {
+char *ipc_single_command(int socketfd, uint32_t type, const char *payload, size_t *len) {
 	char data[IPC_HEADER_SIZE];
+
+	if (*len > UINT32_MAX) {
+		sway_abort("Unable to send overly long IPC payload");
+	}
+	uint32_t size = *len;
 	memcpy(data, ipc_magic, sizeof(ipc_magic));
-	memcpy(data + sizeof(ipc_magic), len, sizeof(*len));
-	memcpy(data + sizeof(ipc_magic) + sizeof(*len), &type, sizeof(type));
+	memcpy(data + sizeof(ipc_magic), &size, sizeof(size));
+	memcpy(data + sizeof(ipc_magic) + sizeof(size), &type, sizeof(type));
 
 	if (write(socketfd, data, IPC_HEADER_SIZE) == -1) {
 		sway_abort("Unable to send IPC header");
diff --git a/include/ipc-client.h b/include/ipc-client.h
index d3895023f..a8919571c 100644
--- a/include/ipc-client.h
+++ b/include/ipc-client.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
  * encoded payload string.
  */
 struct ipc_response {
-	uint32_t size;
+	size_t size;
 	uint32_t type;
 	char *payload;
 };
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ int ipc_open_socket(const char *socket_path);
  * Issues a single IPC command and returns the buffer. len will be updated with
  * the length of the buffer returned from sway.
  */
-char *ipc_single_command(int socketfd, uint32_t type, const char *payload, uint32_t *len);
+char *ipc_single_command(int socketfd, uint32_t type, const char *payload, size_t *len);
 /**
  * Receives a single IPC response and returns an ipc_response.
  */
diff --git a/sway/main.c b/sway/main.c
index 0611e80bf..e367ed362 100644
--- a/sway/main.c
+++ b/sway/main.c
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ void detect_proprietary(int allow_unsupported_gpu) {
 
 void run_as_ipc_client(char *command, char *socket_path) {
 	int socketfd = ipc_open_socket(socket_path);
-	uint32_t len = strlen(command);
+	size_t len = strlen(command);
 	char *resp = ipc_single_command(socketfd, IPC_COMMAND, command, &len);
 	printf("%s\n", resp);
 	free(resp);
diff --git a/swaybar/ipc.c b/swaybar/ipc.c
index a64aa1abf..3800a1dd5 100644
--- a/swaybar/ipc.c
+++ b/swaybar/ipc.c
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #include "util.h"
 
 void ipc_send_workspace_command(struct swaybar *bar, const char *ws) {
-	uint32_t size = strlen("workspace \"\"") + strlen(ws);
+	size_t size = strlen("workspace \"\"") + strlen(ws);
 	for (size_t i = 0; i < strlen(ws); ++i) {
 		if (ws[i] == '"' || ws[i] == '\\') {
 			++size;
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ bool ipc_get_workspaces(struct swaybar *bar) {
 		free_workspaces(&output->workspaces);
 		output->focused = false;
 	}
-	uint32_t len = 0;
+	size_t len = 0;
 	char *res = ipc_single_command(bar->ipc_socketfd,
 			IPC_GET_WORKSPACES, NULL, &len);
 	json_object *results = json_tokener_parse(res);
@@ -409,13 +409,13 @@ bool ipc_get_workspaces(struct swaybar *bar) {
 void ipc_execute_binding(struct swaybar *bar, struct swaybar_binding *bind) {
 	sway_log(SWAY_DEBUG, "Executing binding for button %u (release=%d): `%s`",
 			bind->button, bind->release, bind->command);
-	uint32_t len = strlen(bind->command);
+	size_t len = strlen(bind->command);
 	free(ipc_single_command(bar->ipc_socketfd,
 			IPC_COMMAND, bind->command, &len));
 }
 
 bool ipc_initialize(struct swaybar *bar) {
-	uint32_t len = strlen(bar->id);
+	size_t len = strlen(bar->id);
 	char *res = ipc_single_command(bar->ipc_socketfd,
 			IPC_GET_BAR_CONFIG, bar->id, &len);
 	if (!ipc_parse_config(bar->config, res)) {
diff --git a/swaymsg/main.c b/swaymsg/main.c
index 574d3b759..993e08f06 100644
--- a/swaymsg/main.c
+++ b/swaymsg/main.c
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	int socketfd = ipc_open_socket(socket_path);
 	struct timeval timeout = {.tv_sec = 3, .tv_usec = 0};
 	ipc_set_recv_timeout(socketfd, timeout);
-	uint32_t len = strlen(command);
+	size_t len = strlen(command);
 	char *resp = ipc_single_command(socketfd, type, command, &len);
 
 	// pretty print the json