diff --git a/src/chat_log.c b/src/chat_log.c
index 43ba820a..e1aa6865 100644
--- a/src/chat_log.c
+++ b/src/chat_log.c
@@ -129,8 +129,7 @@ chat_log_get_previous(const gchar * const login, const gchar * const recipient,
         char *filename = _get_log_filename(recipient, login, log_date, FALSE);
 
         FILE *logp = fopen(filename, "r");
-        char *line = NULL;
-        size_t read = 0;
+        char *line;
         if (logp != NULL) {
             GString *gs_header = g_string_new("");
             g_string_append_printf(gs_header, "%d/%d/%d:",
@@ -141,16 +140,8 @@ chat_log_get_previous(const gchar * const login, const gchar * const recipient,
             history = g_slist_append(history, header);
             g_string_free(gs_header, TRUE);
 
-            size_t length = getline(&line, &read, logp);
-            while (length != -1) {
-                char *copy = malloc(length);
-                copy = strncpy(copy, line, length);
-                copy[length -1] = '\0';
-                history = g_slist_append(history, copy);
-                free(line);
-                line = NULL;
-                read = 0;
-                length = getline(&line, &read, logp);
+            while ((line = prof_getline(logp)) != NULL) {
+                history = g_slist_append(history, line);
             }
 
             fclose(logp);
diff --git a/src/common.c b/src/common.c
index 840a0803..cdfa944c 100644
--- a/src/common.c
+++ b/src/common.c
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@
 
 #include "common.h"
 
+// assume malloc stores at most 8 bytes for size of allocated memory
+// and page size is at least 4KB
+#define READ_BUF_SIZE 4088
+
 // backwards compatibility for GLib version < 2.28
 void
 p_slist_free_full(GSList *items, GDestroyNotify free_func)
@@ -118,3 +122,48 @@ encode_xml(const char * const xml)
 
     return coded_msg3;
 }
+
+char *
+prof_getline(FILE *stream)
+{
+    char *buf;
+    size_t buf_size;
+    char *result;
+    char *s = NULL;
+    size_t s_size = 1;
+    int need_exit = 0;
+
+    buf = (char *)malloc(READ_BUF_SIZE);
+
+    while (TRUE) {
+        result = fgets(buf, READ_BUF_SIZE, stream);
+        if (result == NULL)
+            break;
+        buf_size = strlen(buf);
+        if (buf[buf_size - 1] == '\n') {
+            buf_size--;
+            buf[buf_size] = '\0';
+            need_exit = 1;
+        }
+
+        result = (char *)realloc(s, s_size + buf_size);
+        if (result == NULL) {
+            if (s != NULL) {
+                free(s);
+                s = NULL;
+            }
+            break;
+        }
+        s = result;
+
+        memcpy(s + s_size - 1, buf, buf_size);
+        s_size += buf_size;
+        s[s_size - 1] = '\0';
+
+        if (need_exit != 0 || feof(stream) != 0)
+            break;
+    }
+
+    free(buf);
+    return s;
+}
diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index 7ee774c4..47de27fb 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #ifndef COMMON_H
 #define COMMON_H
 
+#include <stdio.h>
 #include <glib.h>
 
 #if !GLIB_CHECK_VERSION(2,28,0)
@@ -41,5 +42,6 @@ char * str_replace(const char *string, const char *substr,
     const char *replacement);
 int str_contains(char str[], int size, char ch);
 char* encode_xml(const char * const xml);
+char * prof_getline(FILE *stream);
 
 #endif