diff --git a/xmllint.c b/xmllint.c
index f6a8e463..c647486f 100644
--- a/xmllint.c
+++ b/xmllint.c
@@ -528,6 +528,12 @@ static void
 xmlHTMLEncodeSend(void) {
     char *result;
 
+    /*
+     * xmlEncodeEntitiesReentrant assumes valid UTF-8, but the buffer might
+     * end with a truncated UTF-8 sequence. This is a hack to at least avoid
+     * an out-of-bounds read.
+     */
+    memset(&buffer[sizeof(buffer)-4], 0, 4);
     result = (char *) xmlEncodeEntitiesReentrant(NULL, BAD_CAST buffer);
     if (result) {
 	xmlGenericError(xmlGenericErrorContext, "%s", result);