diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index d6f226f..aaf1d35 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ but significantly reqritten and no longer protocol compatible, thanks to tuanpmt
 inspiration!
 
 Many thanks to https://github.com/brunnels for contributions in particular around the espduino
-functionality. Thank you also to https://github.com/susisstrolch and https://github.com/bc547 for
-additional contributions!
+functionality. Thank you also to https://github.com/susisstrolch, https://github.com/bc547,
+and https://github.com/katast for additional contributions!
 
 [float]
 Table of Contents
diff --git a/cmd/cmd.c b/cmd/cmd.c
index 714d185..6ebb8cb 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd.c
+++ b/cmd/cmd.c
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ cmdResponseBody(const void *data, uint16_t len) {
   cmdProtoWriteBuf(data, len);
   resp_crc = crc16_data(data, len, resp_crc);
 
-  uint16_t pad = (4-(len&3))&3; // get to multiple of 4
+  uint16_t pad = (4-((len+2)&3))&3; // get to multiple of 4
   if (pad > 0) {
     uint32_t temp = 0;
     cmdProtoWriteBuf((uint8_t*)&temp, pad);
diff --git a/syslog/syslog.c b/syslog/syslog.c
index 3d52735..94c021a 100644
--- a/syslog/syslog.c
+++ b/syslog/syslog.c
@@ -391,11 +391,11 @@ syslog_compose(uint8_t facility, uint8_t severity, const char *tag, const char *
   } sl;
 
   DBG("[%dµs] %s id=%lu\n", WDEV_NOW(), __FUNCTION__, syslog_msgid);
-
-  sl.se.next = NULL;
-  sl.se.msgid = syslog_msgid;
-  sl.se.tick = WDEV_NOW();			// 0 ... 4294.967295s
-  char *p = sl.se.datagram;
+  syslog_entry_t *se = os_zalloc(sizeof (syslog_entry_t) + 1024);	// allow up to 1k datagram
+  if (se == NULL) return NULL;
+  char *p = se->datagram;
+  se->tick = WDEV_NOW();			// 0 ... 4294.967295s
+  se->msgid = syslog_msgid;
 
   // The Priority value is calculated by first multiplying the Facility
   // number by 8 and then adding the numerical value of the Severity.
@@ -527,6 +527,7 @@ void ICACHE_FLASH_ATTR syslog(uint8_t facility, uint8_t severity, const char *ta
   // compose the syslog message
   void *arg = __builtin_apply_args();
   void *res = __builtin_apply((void*)syslog_compose, arg, 128);
+  if (res == NULL) return; // compose failed, probably due to malloc failure
   syslog_entry_t *se  = *(syslog_entry_t **)res;
 
   // and append it to the message queue