diff --git a/tools/power/cpupower/utils/cpufreq-set.c b/tools/power/cpupower/utils/cpufreq-set.c
index dd1539eb8c63de3e8d166b24a5f79b65702a4685..a416de80c55ea120f83b183b1b0db2aa824e2c22 100644
--- a/tools/power/cpupower/utils/cpufreq-set.c
+++ b/tools/power/cpupower/utils/cpufreq-set.c
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ int cmd_freq_set(int argc, char **argv)
 				print_unknown_arg();
 				return -EINVAL;
 			}
-			if ((sscanf(optarg, "%s", gov)) != 1) {
+			if ((sscanf(optarg, "%19s", gov)) != 1) {
 				print_unknown_arg();
 				return -EINVAL;
 			}