diff --git a/src/window.c b/src/window.c
index cb4ff4e7..195c3e6a 100644
--- a/src/window.c
+++ b/src/window.c
@@ -2087,6 +2087,14 @@ void wWindowConfigure(WWindow *wwin, int req_x, int req_y, int req_width, int re
 	int synth_notify = False;
 	int resize;
 
+	/* if window size is guaranteed to fail - fix it to some reasonable
+	 * defaults */
+	if (req_height > SHRT_MAX)
+		req_height = 480;
+
+	if (req_width > SHRT_MAX)
+		req_height = 640;
+
 	resize = (req_width != wwin->client.width || req_height != wwin->client.height);
 	/*
 	 * if the window is being moved but not resized then