diff --git a/pkg/util/utilfn/streamtolines.go b/pkg/util/utilfn/streamtolines.go
index 51758465da..5cbde2bb16 100644
--- a/pkg/util/utilfn/streamtolines.go
+++ b/pkg/util/utilfn/streamtolines.go
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ type lineBuf struct {
 	inLongLine bool
 }
 
-const maxLineLength = 128 * 1024
+// needs to be large enough to read the largest RPC packet
+// there are some legacy file transfer packets that can send up to 32m (base64 encoded)
+const maxLineLength = 64 * 1024 * 1024
 
 func ReadLineWithTimeout(ch chan LineOutput, timeout time.Duration) (string, error) {
 	select {