diff --git a/drivers/char/selection.c b/drivers/char/selection.c
index f29fbe9b8ed7..cb8ca5698963 100644
--- a/drivers/char/selection.c
+++ b/drivers/char/selection.c
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ int set_selection(const struct tiocl_selection __user *sel, struct tty_struct *t
 
 	/* Allocate a new buffer before freeing the old one ... */
 	multiplier = use_unicode ? 3 : 1;  /* chars can take up to 3 bytes */
-	bp = kmalloc((sel_end-sel_start)/2*multiplier+1, GFP_KERNEL);
+	bp = kmalloc(((sel_end-sel_start)/2+1)*multiplier, GFP_KERNEL);
 	if (!bp) {
 		printk(KERN_WARNING "selection: kmalloc() failed\n");
 		clear_selection();