diff --git a/Objects/fileobject.c b/Objects/fileobject.c
index ed15587..6d57aea 100644
--- a/Objects/fileobject.c
+++ b/Objects/fileobject.c
@@ -452,7 +452,11 @@
 #define SMALLCHUNK BUFSIZ
 #endif
 
-#define BIGCHUNK (512*1024)
+#if SIZEOF_INT < 4
+#define BIGCHUNK  (512 * 32)
+#else
+#define BIGCHUNK  (512 * 1024)
+#endif
 
 static size_t
 new_buffersize(f, currentsize)