diff --git a/st.c b/st.c
index b7bddf3..d6fad11 100644
--- a/st.c
+++ b/st.c
@@ -2254,7 +2254,7 @@ 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);