diff --git a/transport-helper.c b/transport-helper.c
index dc90a1fb76..36408046eb 100644
--- a/transport-helper.c
+++ b/transport-helper.c
@@ -347,14 +347,11 @@ static int set_helper_option(struct transport *transport,
 static void standard_options(struct transport *t)
 {
 	char buf[16];
-	int n;
 	int v = t->verbose;
 
 	set_helper_option(t, "progress", t->progress ? "true" : "false");
 
-	n = snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%d", v + 1);
-	if (n >= sizeof(buf))
-		die("impossibly large verbosity value");
+	xsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%d", v + 1);
 	set_helper_option(t, "verbosity", buf);
 
 	switch (t->family) {