diff --git a/src/dired.c b/src/dired.c
index ec1686ffe14..d43c3eb2119 100644
--- a/src/dired.c
+++ b/src/dired.c
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ directory_files_internal (directory, full, match, nosort, attrs)
 		  if (nchars > nbytes)
 		    abort ();
 		      
-		  SCHARS (fullname) = nchars;
+		  STRING_SET_CHARS (fullname, nchars);
 		  if (nchars == nbytes)
 		    STRING_SET_UNIBYTE (fullname);