diff --git a/src/source-ipfw.c b/src/source-ipfw.c
index 83693eaec7..4e89401997 100644
--- a/src/source-ipfw.c
+++ b/src/source-ipfw.c
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ TmEcode NoIPFWSupportExit(ThreadVars *tv, void *initdata, void **data) {
 
 #else /* We have IPFW compiled in */
 
+extern int max_pending_packets;
+
 /**
  * \brief Structure to hold thread specific variables.
  */
@@ -221,7 +223,7 @@ TmEcode ReceiveIPFW(ThreadVars *tv, Packet *p, void *data, PacketQueue *pq) {
 
     /* Is the packet queue full, wait if so */
     SCMutexLock(&mutex_pending);
-    if (pending > MAX_PENDING) {
+    if (pending > max_pending_packets) {
         pthread_cond_wait(&cond_pending, &mutex_pending);
     }
     SCMutexUnlock(&mutex_pending);
diff --git a/src/source-nfq.c b/src/source-nfq.c
index 3e0bd10307..911f406cf2 100644
--- a/src/source-nfq.c
+++ b/src/source-nfq.c
@@ -66,9 +66,11 @@ TmEcode NoNFQSupportExit(ThreadVars *tv, void *initdata, void **data)
 
 #else /* implied we do have NFQ support */
 
+extern int max_pending_packets;
+
 #define NFQ_BURST_FACTOR 4
-#define NFQ_DFT_QUEUE_LEN NFQ_BURST_FACTOR * MAX_PENDING
-#define NFQ_NF_BUFSIZE 1500 * NFQ_DFT_QUEUE_LEN
+//#define NFQ_DFT_QUEUE_LEN NFQ_BURST_FACTOR * MAX_PENDING
+//#define NFQ_NF_BUFSIZE 1500 * NFQ_DFT_QUEUE_LEN
 
 /* shared vars for all for nfq queues and threads */
 static NFQGlobalVars nfq_g;
@@ -264,7 +266,8 @@ TmEcode NFQInitThread(NFQThreadVars *nfq_t, uint16_t queue_num, uint32_t queue_m
 #endif /* HAVE_NFQ_MAXLEN */
 
     /* set netlink buffer size to a decent value */
-    nfnl_rcvbufsiz(nfq_nfnlh(nfq_t->h), NFQ_NF_BUFSIZE);
+    nfnl_rcvbufsiz(nfq_nfnlh(nfq_t->h), queue_maxlen * 1500);
+    SCLogInfo("setting nfnl bufsize to %" PRId32 "", queue_maxlen * 1500);
 
     nfq_t->nh = nfq_nfnlh(nfq_t->h);
     nfq_t->fd = nfnl_fd(nfq_t->nh);
@@ -307,7 +310,7 @@ TmEcode ReceiveNFQThreadInit(ThreadVars *tv, void *initdata, void **data) {
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
 
-    int r = NFQInitThread(ntv, queue_num, NFQ_DFT_QUEUE_LEN);
+    int r = NFQInitThread(ntv, queue_num, (max_pending_packets * NFQ_BURST_FACTOR));
     if (r < 0) {
         SCLogError(SC_ERR_NFQ_THREAD_INIT, "nfq thread failed to initialize");
 
@@ -389,7 +392,7 @@ TmEcode ReceiveNFQ(ThreadVars *tv, Packet *p, void *data, PacketQueue *pq) {
     /* check if we have too many packets in the system
      * so we will wait for some to free up */
     SCMutexLock(&mutex_pending);
-    if (pending > MAX_PENDING) {
+    if (pending > max_pending_packets) {
         SCondWait(&cond_pending, &mutex_pending);
     }
     SCMutexUnlock(&mutex_pending);
diff --git a/src/suricata.c b/src/suricata.c
index d4e9352c1f..6bb7846c3f 100644
--- a/src/suricata.c
+++ b/src/suricata.c
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     SignalHandlerSetup(SIGHUP, SignalHandlerSighup);
 
     /* pre allocate packets */
-    SCLogInfo("preallocating packets... packet size %" PRIuMAX "", (uintmax_t)sizeof(Packet));
+    SCLogDebug("preallocating packets... packet size %" PRIuMAX "", (uintmax_t)sizeof(Packet));
     int i = 0;
     for (i = 0; i < max_pending_packets; i++) {
         /* XXX pkt alloc function */
@@ -745,7 +745,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
         PacketEnqueue(&packet_q,p);
     }
-    SCLogInfo("preallocating packets... done: total memory %"PRIuMAX"", (uintmax_t)(max_pending_packets*sizeof(Packet)));
+    SCLogInfo("preallocated %"PRIiMAX" packets. Total memory %"PRIuMAX"",
+        max_pending_packets, (uintmax_t)(max_pending_packets*sizeof(Packet)));
 
     FlowInitConfig(FLOW_VERBOSE);