diff --git a/py/formatfloat.c b/py/formatfloat.c
index 21ed2d5508..58a423e38c 100644
--- a/py/formatfloat.c
+++ b/py/formatfloat.c
@@ -170,10 +170,20 @@ int mp_format_float(FPTYPE f, char *buf, size_t buf_size, char fmt, int prec, ch
 
     if (fp_iszero(f)) {
         e = 0;
-        if (fmt == 'e') {
-            e_sign = '+';
-        } else if (fmt == 'f') {
+        if (fmt == 'f') {
+            // Truncate precision to prevent buffer overflow
+            if (prec + 2 > buf_remaining) {
+                prec = buf_remaining - 2;
+            }
             num_digits = prec + 1;
+        } else {
+            // Truncate precision to prevent buffer overflow
+            if (prec + 6 > buf_remaining) {
+                prec = buf_remaining - 6;
+            }
+            if (fmt == 'e') {
+                e_sign = '+';
+            }
         }
     } else if (fp_isless1(f)) {
         // We need to figure out what an integer digit will be used
@@ -275,6 +285,12 @@ int mp_format_float(FPTYPE f, char *buf, size_t buf_size, char fmt, int prec, ch
         if (fmt == 'e' && prec > (buf_remaining - FPMIN_BUF_SIZE)) {
             prec = buf_remaining - FPMIN_BUF_SIZE;
         }
+        if (fmt == 'g'){
+            // Truncate precision to prevent buffer overflow
+            if (prec + (FPMIN_BUF_SIZE - 1) > buf_remaining) {
+                prec = buf_remaining - (FPMIN_BUF_SIZE - 1);
+            }
+        }
         // If the user specified 'g' format, and e is < prec, then we'll switch
         // to the fixed format.
 
@@ -378,6 +394,9 @@ int mp_format_float(FPTYPE f, char *buf, size_t buf_size, char fmt, int prec, ch
         }
     }
 
+    // verify that we did not overrun the input buffer so far
+    assert((size_t)(s + 1 - buf) <= buf_size);
+
     if (org_fmt == 'g' && prec > 0) {
         // Remove trailing zeros and a trailing decimal point
         while (s[-1] == '0') {
diff --git a/tests/float/string_format_modulo2.py b/tests/float/string_format_modulo2.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d35f2a2c02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/float/string_format_modulo2.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# test formatting floats with large precision, that it doesn't overflow the buffer
+
+def test(num, num_str):
+    if num == float('inf') or num == 0.0 and num_str != '0.0':
+        # skip numbers that overflow or underflow the FP precision
+        return
+    for kind in ('e', 'f', 'g'):
+        # check precision either side of the size of the buffer (32 bytes)
+        for prec in range(23, 36, 2):
+            fmt = '%.' + '%d' % prec + kind
+            s = fmt % num
+            check = abs(float(s) - num)
+            if num > 1:
+                check /= num
+            if check > 1e-6:
+                print('FAIL', num_str, fmt, s, len(s), check)
+
+# check pure zero
+test(0.0, '0.0')
+
+# check most powers of 10, making sure to include exponents with 3 digits
+for e in range(-101, 102):
+    num = pow(10, e)
+    test(num, '1e%d' % e)