diff --git a/build-utils/atoms-int.sh b/build-utils/atoms-int.sh
index dde2fe9f..5f8f127f 100755
--- a/build-utils/atoms-int.sh
+++ b/build-utils/atoms-int.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ echo '{'
 
 while read atom
 do
-    echo '    { "'$atom'", &'$atom' },'
+    echo '    { "'$atom'", sizeof("'$atom'") - 1, &'$atom' },'
 done < $1
 
 echo '};'
diff --git a/common/atoms.c b/common/atoms.c
index 47a9743f..b3760e7f 100644
--- a/common/atoms.c
+++ b/common/atoms.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 typedef struct
 {
     const char *name;
+    size_t len;
     xcb_atom_t *atom;
 } atom_item_t;
 
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ atoms_init(xcb_connection_t *conn)
     for(i = 0; i < countof(ATOM_LIST); i++)
 	cs[i] = xcb_intern_atom_unchecked(conn,
 					  false,
-					  a_strlen(ATOM_LIST[i].name),
+					  ATOM_LIST[i].len,
 					  ATOM_LIST[i].name);
 
     for(i = 0; i < countof(ATOM_LIST); i++)