diff --git a/src/kcrash.cpp b/src/kcrash.cpp
--- a/src/kcrash.cpp
+++ b/src/kcrash.cpp
@@ -757,55 +757,93 @@
     return (pid > 0); //return true on success
 }
 
+static int write_socket(int socket, long value)
+{
+    return write_socket(socket, (char*)&value, sizeof(value));
+}
+
+static int write_socket(int socket, const char* string)
+{
+    return write_socket(socket, (char*)string, strlen(string) + 1);
+}
+
 static pid_t startFromKdeinit(int argc, const char *argv[])
 {
     int socket = openSocket();
     if (socket < -1) {
         return 0;
     }
     kcrash_launcher_header header;
     header.cmd = LAUNCHER_EXEC_NEW;
-    const int BUFSIZE = 8192; // make sure this is big enough
     const int CWDSIZE = 2000;
-    char buffer[ BUFSIZE + 10 + 24 /*the env var*/ + CWDSIZE+1 ];
     int pos = 0;
     long argcl = argc;
-    memcpy(buffer + pos, &argcl, sizeof(argcl));
     pos += sizeof(argcl);
     for (int i = 0;
             i < argc;
             ++i) {
         int len = strlen(argv[ i ]) + 1;   // include terminating \0
-        if (pos + len >= BUFSIZE) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "BUFSIZE in KCrash not big enough!\n");
-            return 0;
-        }
-        memcpy(buffer + pos, argv[ i ], len);
         pos += len;
     }
 
-    long env = 1; // 1 env var
-    memcpy(buffer + pos, &env, sizeof(env));
+    long env = 0;
     pos += sizeof(env);
     static const char s_envVar[] = "KCRASH_AUTO_RESTARTED=1";
-    int len = strlen(s_envVar) + 1;
-    memcpy(buffer + pos, s_envVar, len);
-    pos += len;
+
+    bool our_envvar_seen = false;
+    long envbytes = 0;
+    for (; environ[env]; env++) {
+        if (strncmp(environ[env], s_envVar, strlen(s_envVar)-1) == 0) {
+            our_envvar_seen = true;
+            envbytes += strlen(s_envVar) + 1;
+        } else {
+            envbytes += strlen(environ[env]) + 1;
+        }
+    }
+    if (!our_envvar_seen) {
+      env++;
+      int len = strlen(s_envVar) + 1;
+      envbytes += len;
+    }
+    pos += envbytes;
 
     long avoid_loops = 0;
-    memcpy(buffer + pos, &avoid_loops, sizeof(avoid_loops));
     pos += sizeof(avoid_loops);
 
     char cwd[CWDSIZE];
-    if (getcwd(cwd, CWDSIZE-1)) {
-        len = strlen(cwd) + 1; // include terminating \0
-        memcpy(buffer + pos, cwd, len);
-        pos += len;
+    bool cwd_ok;
+    if (cwd_ok = getcwd(cwd, CWDSIZE-1)) {
+        pos += strlen(cwd) + 1; // include terminating \0
     }
 
     header.arg_length = pos;
     write_socket(socket, (char *) &header, sizeof(header));
-    write_socket(socket, buffer, pos);
+
+    write_socket(socket, argcl);
+    for (int i = 0; i<argc; i++)
+        write_socket (socket, argv[i]);
+
+    write_socket(socket, env);
+    for (long i = 0; i < env; ++i) {
+        const char * to_write = environ[i];
+        if (!environ[i] || strncmp(environ[i], s_envVar, strlen(s_envVar) - 1) == 0)
+            to_write = s_envVar;
+        if ((envbytes -= strlen(to_write) + 1) < 0 || !environ[i] && i != env-1) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "KCrash: mismatch in environment sizes\n");
+            // This means there has been an error calculating the environment, or the environment changed
+            return 0;
+        }
+        write_socket(socket, to_write);
+    }
+    if (envbytes) {
+      fprintf(stderr, "KCrash: mismatch in environment sizes (too few bytes written: %ld)\n", envbytes);
+      // Similar error as above
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+    write_socket(socket, avoid_loops);
+    if (cwd_ok)
+        write_socket(socket, cwd);
 
     if (read_socket(socket, (char *) &header, sizeof(header)) < 0
             || header.cmd != LAUNCHER_OK) {