diff --git a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c
index 7c37b7f8..13393c53 100644
--- a/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c
+++ b/libcomposefs/lcfs-writer.c
@@ -856,6 +856,13 @@ int lcfs_node_set_payload(struct lcfs_node_s *node, const char *payload)
 {
 	char *dup = NULL;
 	if (payload) {
+		const size_t len = strlen (payload);
+		size_t limit;
+		if (S_ISLNK (node->inode.st_mode)) {
+			limit = PATH_MAX;
+		} else if (S_ISREG (node->node.st_mode)) {
+			limit = LCFS_BUILD_INLINE_FILE_SIZE_LIMIT;
+		}
 		dup = strdup(payload);
 		if (dup == NULL) {
 			errno = ENOMEM;