diff --git a/crypto/params_from_text.c b/crypto/params_from_text.c
index 2a861c94fe..72770ddc53 100644
--- a/crypto/params_from_text.c
+++ b/crypto/params_from_text.c
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ static int prepare_from_text(const OSSL_PARAM *paramdefs, const char *key,
     case OSSL_PARAM_OCTET_STRING:
         if (*ishex) {
             *buf_n = strlen(value) >> 1;
+        } else {
+            *buf_n = value_n;
         }
         break;
     }