diff --git a/Include/osdefs.h b/Include/osdefs.h
index 8190a752ea..6937659325 100644
--- a/Include/osdefs.h
+++ b/Include/osdefs.h
@@ -37,8 +37,12 @@ extern "C" {
 
 /* Max pathname length */
 #ifndef MAXPATHLEN
+#if defined(PATH_MAX) && PATH_MAX > 1024
+#define MAXPATHLEN PATH_MAX
+#else
 #define MAXPATHLEN 1024
 #endif
+#endif
 
 /* Search path entry delimiter */
 #ifndef DELIM
diff --git a/Modules/posixmodule.c b/Modules/posixmodule.c
index 089b40a964..cec6b3b06c 100644
--- a/Modules/posixmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/posixmodule.c
@@ -244,7 +244,11 @@ extern int lstat(const char *, struct stat *);
 #endif /* OS2 */
 
 #ifndef MAXPATHLEN
+#if defined(PATH_MAX) && PATH_MAX > 1024   
+#define MAXPATHLEN PATH_MAX
+#else
 #define MAXPATHLEN 1024
+#endif
 #endif /* MAXPATHLEN */
 
 #ifdef UNION_WAIT
diff --git a/Python/getcwd.c b/Python/getcwd.c
index 5c57291459..967d484b35 100644
--- a/Python/getcwd.c
+++ b/Python/getcwd.c
@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@
 #endif
 
 #ifndef MAXPATHLEN
+#if defined(PATH_MAX) && PATH_MAX > 1024
+#define MAXPATHLEN PATH_MAX
+#else
 #define MAXPATHLEN 1024
 #endif
+#endif
 
 extern char *getwd(char *);