diff --git a/src/USER-MISC/pair_meam_spline.cpp b/src/USER-MISC/pair_meam_spline.cpp
index 896c7d34054de07822509f358b1d6ea19c8f1259..5941a9f600005ff94d0491a31bb9af2d99d91002 100644
--- a/src/USER-MISC/pair_meam_spline.cpp
+++ b/src/USER-MISC/pair_meam_spline.cpp
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ void PairMEAMSpline::read_file(const char* filename)
       n = strlen(elements[i]);
     MPI_Bcast(&n, 1, MPI_INT, 0, world);
     if (comm->me != 0)
-      elements[i] = new char[n];
+      elements[i] = new char[n+1];
     MPI_Bcast(elements[i], n, MPI_CHAR, 0, world);
   }
   for (int i = 0; i < nmultichoose2; i++)