diff --git a/lib/spawn/spawn.c b/lib/spawn/spawn.c
index 1cba7b5..171e845 100644
--- a/lib/spawn/spawn.c
+++ b/lib/spawn/spawn.c
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ errval_t spawn_load_argv(int argc, char *argv[], struct spawninfo *si,
     for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
         // afeer: put the argument into page in self
         size_t argument_length = strlen(argv[i]);
-        strncpy(argv[i], arguments_page_in_self + offset, argument_length);
+        strncpy(arguments_page_in_self + offset, argv[i], argument_length);
         // afeer: specify the child-space address of the argument
         domain_params->argv[i] = (char *) arguments_page_in_child + offset;
         offset += argument_length + 1;