diff --git a/src/include/sof/drivers/ipc.h b/src/include/sof/drivers/ipc.h
index 0d7bf3ec5..67d2479e0 100644
--- a/src/include/sof/drivers/ipc.h
+++ b/src/include/sof/drivers/ipc.h
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ static inline struct ipc_msg *ipc_msg_init(uint32_t header, uint32_t size)
 	struct ipc_msg *msg;
 
 	msg = rzalloc(SOF_MEM_ZONE_RUNTIME, SOF_MEM_FLAG_SHARED,
-		      SOF_MEM_CAPS_RAM, size);
+		      SOF_MEM_CAPS_RAM, sizeof(*msg));
 	if (!msg)
 		return NULL;