diff --git a/src/svf/svf.c b/src/svf/svf.c
index 7cb2200..9a62933 100644
--- a/src/svf/svf.c
+++ b/src/svf/svf.c
@@ -504,7 +504,8 @@ static int svf_read_command_from_file(int fd)
 		default:
 			if (!comment)
 			{
-				if (cmd_pos >= svf_command_buffer_size - 1)
+				// ensure there are 2 bytes available
+				if ((cmd_pos + 1) >= svf_command_buffer_size - 1)
 				{
 					tmp_buffer = (char*)malloc(svf_command_buffer_size + SVFP_CMD_INC_CNT);		// 1 more byte for '\0'
 					if (NULL == tmp_buffer)
@@ -524,6 +525,11 @@ static int svf_read_command_from_file(int fd)
 					svf_command_buffer_size += SVFP_CMD_INC_CNT;
 					tmp_buffer = NULL;
 				}
+				// insert a space before '('
+				if ('(' == ch)
+				{
+					svf_command_buffer[cmd_pos++] = ' ';
+				}
 				svf_command_buffer[cmd_pos++] = (char)toupper(ch);
 			}
 			break;