diff --git a/bld/idebatch/c/tst.c b/bld/idebatch/c/tst.c
index fa18a5e60c..b1aed48dfe 100644
--- a/bld/idebatch/c/tst.c
+++ b/bld/idebatch/c/tst.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int main( void )
             BatchSpawn( buff );
             for( ;; ) {
                 len = BatchCollect( buff, sizeof( buff ), &stat );
-                if( len == -1 ) {
+                if( len < 0 ) {
                     printf( "done: status = %d\n", (int)stat );
                     break;
                 } else if( kbhit() ) {
@@ -81,8 +81,7 @@ int main( void )
                     } else {
                         BatchCancel();
                     }
-                } else if( len != 0 ) {
-                    buff[len] = '\0';
+                } else if( len > 0 ) {
                     printf( "%s", buff );
                     fflush( stdout );
                 }
diff --git a/bld/idebatch/nt/batserv.c b/bld/idebatch/nt/batserv.c
index dc5ec9d1f6..6c2ed03afd 100644
--- a/bld/idebatch/nt/batserv.c
+++ b/bld/idebatch/nt/batserv.c
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ static void ProcessConnection( void )
             break;
         /*
          * add additional null terminate character
+         * strings are transferred without null terminate character
          */
         bdata.u.s.u.data[len] = '\0';
         switch( bdata.u.s.cmd ) {