diff --git a/common/parse.c b/common/parse.c
index e78223c2..656b378b 100644
--- a/common/parse.c
+++ b/common/parse.c
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
    Common parser code for dhcpd and dhclient. */
 
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2004-2019 by Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
+ * Copyright (c) 2004-2021 by Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
  * Copyright (c) 1995-2003 by Internet Software Consortium
  *
  * Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
@@ -5790,13 +5790,14 @@ int parse_X (cfile, buf, max)
 				skip_to_semi (cfile);
 				return 0;
 			}
-			convert_num (cfile, &buf [len], val, 16, 8);
-			if (len++ > max) {
+			if (len >= max) {
 				parse_warn (cfile,
 					    "hexadecimal constant too long.");
 				skip_to_semi (cfile);
 				return 0;
 			}
+			convert_num (cfile, &buf [len], val, 16, 8);
+			len++;
 			token = peek_token (&val, (unsigned *)0, cfile);
 			if (token == COLON)
 				token = next_token (&val,