diff --git a/lib/json/json_util.c b/lib/json/json_util.c
index 4a9b5b405..cb9a90140 100644
--- a/lib/json/json_util.c
+++ b/lib/json/json_util.c
@@ -340,20 +340,22 @@ spdk_json_decode_array(const struct spdk_json_val *values, spdk_json_decode_fn d
 {
 	uint32_t i;
 	char *field;
+	char *out_end;
 
 	if (values == NULL || values->type != SPDK_JSON_VAL_ARRAY_BEGIN) {
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (values->len > max_size) {
-		return -1;
-	}
-
 	*out_size = 0;
 	field = out;
+	out_end = field + max_size * stride;
 	for (i = 0; i < values->len;) {
 		const struct spdk_json_val *v = &values[i + 1];
 
+		if (field == out_end) {
+			return -1;
+		}
+
 		if (decode_func(v, field)) {
 			return -1;
 		}