diff --git a/src/pdfalto.cc b/src/pdfalto.cc
index 0a22164..783b1d6 100644
--- a/src/pdfalto.cc
+++ b/src/pdfalto.cc
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
     char *dirname;
     dirname = (char*)malloc(dirname_length + 1);
-    strncat(dirname, thePath, dirname_length); 
+    strncpy(dirname, thePath, dirname_length); 
     dirname[dirname_length] = '\0';
 
     // set the config file path as alongside the executable
@@ -473,4 +473,4 @@ void removeAlreadyExistingData(GString *dir) {
         if (file) delete file;
         closedir(rep);
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}