diff --git a/plugins/ruby/ruby.rb b/plugins/ruby/ruby.rb
index 850ca0912..7709276c8 100644
--- a/plugins/ruby/ruby.rb
+++ b/plugins/ruby/ruby.rb
@@ -2,14 +2,24 @@
 module Kernel
     def puts(*a)
         a.flatten.each { |l|
-            DFHack.print_str(l.to_s.chomp + "\n")
+            # XXX looks like print_str crashes with strings longer than 4096... maybe not nullterminated ?
+            # this workaround fixes it
+            s = l.to_s.chomp + "\n"
+            while s.length > 0
+                DFHack.print_str(s[0, 4000])
+                s[0, 4000] = ''
+            end
         }
         nil
     end
 
     def puts_err(*a)
         a.flatten.each { |l|
-            DFHack.print_err(l.to_s.chomp + "\n")
+            s = l.to_s.chomp + "\n"
+            while s.length > 0
+                DFHack.print_err(s[0, 4000])
+                s[0, 4000] = ''
+            end
         }
         nil
     end