diff --git a/runtime/runtime.c b/runtime/runtime.c
index 1e1ade139..c74962d53 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime.c
+++ b/runtime/runtime.c
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ extern int LtagHash (char *s) {
     p++;
   }
 
-  if (strcmp(s, de_hash(h), 5) != 0) { failure("%s <-> %s\n", s, de_hash(h)); }
+  if (strncmp(s, de_hash(h), 5) != 0) { failure("%s <-> %s\n", s, de_hash(h)); }
 
   return BOX(h);
 }