diff --git a/redis.php b/redis.php
index 5f3757f..86b77d2 100644
--- a/redis.php
+++ b/redis.php
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@
 				// set redis val for key
 				set_redis($key, $val);
 			} else {
-				$data = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);
-				if ($data === NULL) {
-					// got key but no val
+				$data = file_get_contents('php://input');
+				if (!$data) {
 					edie("no val given");
+				} elseif (count($data) > 500) {
+					edie("data too long");
 				} else {
 					set_redis($key, $data);
 				}