diff --git a/util/Reporting.cpp b/util/Reporting.cpp
index 831c8585..a965ba88 100644
--- a/util/Reporting.cpp
+++ b/util/Reporting.cpp
@@ -465,13 +465,10 @@ bool ReportBitsCollisions( uint64_t nbH, int * collcounts, int minBits, int maxB
     }
 
     if (verbose) {
-        const char * spaces = "                ";
         int          i_maxCollDevExp = (int)round(maxCollDevExp);
         spacelen -= printf("Worst is %2i bits: %i/%i ", maxCollDevBits, maxCollDevNb, i_maxCollDevExp);
         if (spacelen < 0) {
             spacelen = 0;
-        } else if (spacelen > (int)strlen(spaces)) {
-            spacelen = strlen(spaces);
         }
 
         if (maxCollDev >= 999.95) {
@@ -479,11 +476,11 @@ bool ReportBitsCollisions( uint64_t nbH, int * collcounts, int minBits, int maxB
         }
 
         if (!isfinite(maxCollDev)) {
-            printf("%.*s(------) ", spacelen, spaces);
+            printf("%.*s(------) ", spacelen, g_manyspaces);
         } else if (maxCollDev < 9.0) {
-            printf("%.*s(%5.3fx) ", spacelen, spaces, maxCollDev);
+            printf("%.*s(%5.3fx) ", spacelen, g_manyspaces, maxCollDev);
         } else {
-            printf("%.*s(%#.4gx) ", spacelen, spaces, maxCollDev);
+            printf("%.*s(%#.4gx) ", spacelen, g_manyspaces, maxCollDev);
         }
 
         if (drawDiagram) {
diff --git a/util/TestGlobals.cpp b/util/TestGlobals.cpp
index b886787f..681f9283 100644
--- a/util/TestGlobals.cpp
+++ b/util/TestGlobals.cpp
@@ -78,3 +78,9 @@ const char * g_failstr = "*********FAIL*********\n";
 uint32_t g_log2pValueCounts[COUNT_MAX_PVALUE + 2];
 uint32_t g_testPass, g_testFail;
 std::vector<std::pair<const char *, char *>> g_testFailures;
+
+//--------
+// A string with 128 spaces, useful for aligning text outputs
+const char * g_manyspaces =
+    "                                                                "  \
+    "                                                                ";
diff --git a/util/TestGlobals.h b/util/TestGlobals.h
index 637c78fa..a0bc5136 100644
--- a/util/TestGlobals.h
+++ b/util/TestGlobals.h
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ extern seed_t g_seed;
 // What each test suite prints upon failure
 extern const char * g_failstr;
 
+// A string with 128 spaces, used for aligning text outputs
+extern const char * g_manyspaces;
+
 // By rights, the HAVE_HASHINFO #define shouldn't exist, but C++11
 // doesn't allow forward declaration of class enums (enum classes,
 // yes, but not class enums) for no good reason, and we definitely