diff --git a/inet/inet_ntoa.c b/inet/inet_ntoa.c
index a4543f630d..2efd24ef18 100644
--- a/inet/inet_ntoa.c
+++ b/inet/inet_ntoa.c
@@ -23,15 +23,12 @@
 /* The interface of this function is completely stupid, it requires a
    static buffer.  We relax this a bit in that we allow one buffer for
    each thread.  */
-static __thread char buffer[18];
+static __thread char buffer[INET_ADDRSTRLEN];
 
 
 char *
 inet_ntoa (struct in_addr in)
 {
-  unsigned char *bytes = (unsigned char *) ∈
-  __snprintf (buffer, sizeof (buffer), "%d.%d.%d.%d",
-	      bytes[0], bytes[1], bytes[2], bytes[3]);
-
+  __inet_ntop (AF_INET, &in, buffer, sizeof buffer);
   return buffer;
 }