diff --git a/sys/shell/shell.c b/sys/shell/shell.c
index 4b7cf06fe469bcbe739cd69dd294ab1ea5213ebe..02f42287c542aabd91d12dcc228c70532f03b8f4 100644
--- a/sys/shell/shell.c
+++ b/sys/shell/shell.c
@@ -90,10 +90,8 @@ static void print_help(const shell_command_t *command_list)
 
 static void handle_input_line(shell_t *shell, char *line)
 {
-    char line_copy[shell->shell_buffer_size];
     char *saveptr;
-    strncpy(line_copy, line, sizeof(line_copy));
-    char *command = strtok_r(line_copy, " ", &saveptr);
+    char *command = strtok_r(line, " ", &saveptr);
 
     void (*handler)(char *) = NULL;