diff --git a/runners/calculator/qalculate_engine.cpp b/runners/calculator/qalculate_engine.cpp
--- a/runners/calculator/qalculate_engine.cpp
+++ b/runners/calculator/qalculate_engine.cpp
@@ -98,6 +98,10 @@
     eo.parse_options.angle_unit = ANGLE_UNIT_RADIANS;
     eo.structuring = STRUCTURING_SIMPLIFY;
 
+    // suggested in https://github.com/Qalculate/libqalculate/issues/16
+    // to avoid memory overflow for seemingly innocent calculations (Bug 277011)
+    eo.approximation = APPROXIMATION_APPROXIMATE;
+
     CALCULATOR->setPrecision(16);
     MathStructure result = CALCULATOR->calculate(ctext, eo);