diff --git a/bindings/python/capstone/__init__.py b/bindings/python/capstone/__init__.py
index 3a782a4af4..b0a9d3689b 100755
--- a/bindings/python/capstone/__init__.py
+++ b/bindings/python/capstone/__init__.py
@@ -489,13 +489,29 @@ class _cs_detail(ctypes.Structure):
         ('arch', _cs_arch),
     )
 
+def smallvec(ty, cap):
+    class cls(ctypes.Union):
+        _fields_ = (
+            ('arr', ty * cap),
+            ('ptr', ctypes.POINTER(ty))
+        )
+        capacity = cap
+
+        def __call__(self, size):
+            if size > self.capacity:
+                return self.ptr
+            else:
+                return self.arr
+
+    return cls
+
 class _cs_insn(ctypes.Structure):
     _fields_ = (
         ('id', ctypes.c_uint),
         ('alias_id', ctypes.c_uint64),
         ('address', ctypes.c_uint64),
         ('size', ctypes.c_uint16),
-        ('bytes', ctypes.c_ubyte * 24),
+        ('bytes', smallvec(ctypes.c_ubyte, 16)),
         ('mnemonic', ctypes.c_char * 32),
         ('op_str', ctypes.c_char * 160),
         ('is_alias', ctypes.c_bool),
@@ -704,7 +720,7 @@ def size(self):
     # return instruction's machine bytes (which should have @size bytes).
     @property
     def bytes(self):
-        return bytearray(self._raw.bytes)[:self._raw.size]
+        return bytearray(self._raw.bytes(self._raw.size))[:self._raw.size]
 
     # return instruction's mnemonic.
     @property
diff --git a/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pxd b/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pxd
index 4970c45a4b..b9ed8f3c14 100644
--- a/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pxd
+++ b/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pxd
@@ -16,12 +16,16 @@ cdef extern from "<capstone/capstone.h>":
     ctypedef struct cs_detail:
         pass
 
+    ctypedef union cs_insn_bytes:
+        uint8_t arr[16]
+        uint8_t *ptr
+
     ctypedef struct cs_insn:
         unsigned int id
         uint64_t alias_id;
         uint64_t address
         uint16_t size
-        uint8_t bytes[24]
+        cs_insn_bytes bytes
         char mnemonic[32]
         char op_str[160]
         bool is_alias;
diff --git a/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pyx b/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pyx
index 3079ae8424..3b34dd99ef 100644
--- a/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pyx
+++ b/bindings/python/pyx/ccapstone.pyx
@@ -108,7 +108,11 @@ cdef class CsInsn(object):
     # return instruction's machine bytes (which should have @size bytes).
     @property
     def bytes(self):
-        return bytearray(self._raw.bytes[:self._raw.size])
+        if self._raw.size > 16:
+            raw = self._raw.bytes.ptr
+        else:
+            raw = self._raw.bytes.arr
+        return bytearray(raw[:self._raw.size])
 
     # return instruction's mnemonic.
     @property
diff --git a/cs.c b/cs.c
index d65675f5e1..962d47c888 100644
--- a/cs.c
+++ b/cs.c
@@ -822,6 +822,33 @@ static void fixup_asm_string(char *asm_str) {
 	asm_str[k] = '\0';
 }
 
+static void cs_insn_free(cs_insn *insn) {
+	if (insn->size > sizeof(insn->bytes.arr)) {
+		cs_mem_free(insn->bytes.ptr);
+	}
+	if (insn->detail) {
+		cs_mem_free(insn->detail);
+	}
+}
+
+static bool cs_insn_set_size(cs_insn *insn, uint16_t size) {
+	// TODO: reuse buffer?
+	if (insn->size > sizeof(insn->bytes.arr)) {
+		// free old buffer
+		cs_mem_free(insn->bytes.ptr);
+	}
+	if (size > sizeof(insn->bytes.arr)) {
+		// allocate new buffer
+		insn->bytes.ptr = cs_mem_malloc(size);
+		if (!insn->bytes.ptr) {
+			insn->size = 0;
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+	insn->size = size;
+	return true;
+}
+
 // fill insn with mnemonic & operands info
 static void fill_insn(struct cs_struct *handle, cs_insn *insn, char *buffer, MCInst *mci,
 		PostPrinter_t postprinter, const uint8_t *code)
@@ -830,13 +857,10 @@ static void fill_insn(struct cs_struct *handle, cs_insn *insn, char *buffer, MCI
 	char *sp, *mnem;
 #endif
 	fixup_asm_string(buffer);
-	uint16_t copy_size = MIN(sizeof(insn->bytes), insn->size);
 
 	// fill the instruction bytes.
-	// we might skip some redundant bytes in front in the case of X86
-	memcpy(insn->bytes, code + insn->size - copy_size, copy_size);
+	memcpy(CS_INSN_BYTES(insn), code, insn->size);
 	insn->op_str[0] = '\0';
-	insn->size = copy_size;
 
 	// alias instruction might have ID saved in OpcodePub
 	if (MCInst_getOpcodePub(mci))
@@ -1113,10 +1137,7 @@ cs_buffer * CAPSTONE_API cs_buffer_new(size_t capacity) {
 CAPSTONE_EXPORT
 void CAPSTONE_API cs_buffer_free(cs_buffer *buffer) {
 	for (size_t i = 0; i < buffer->capacity; ++i) {
-		// can be allocated in cs_disasm()
-		if (buffer->insn[i].detail) {
-			cs_mem_free(buffer->insn[i].detail);
-		}
+		cs_insn_free(&buffer->insn[i]);
 	}
 	cs_mem_free(buffer->insn);
 	cs_mem_free(buffer);
@@ -1141,9 +1162,7 @@ bool CAPSTONE_API cs_buffer_reserve_exact(cs_buffer *buffer, size_t required) {
 		}
 
 		for (size_t i = required; i < buffer->capacity; ++i) {
-			if (buffer->insn[i].detail) {
-				cs_mem_free(buffer->insn[i].detail);
-			}
+			cs_insn_free(&buffer->insn[i]);
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1277,7 +1296,10 @@ size_t CAPSTONE_API cs_disasm(csh ud, const uint8_t *code, size_t code_size,
 			SStream ss;
 			SStream_Init(&ss);
 
-			insn->size = insn_size;
+			if (!cs_insn_set_size(insn, insn_size)) {
+				handle->errnum = CS_ERR_MEM;
+				return 0;
+			}
 
 			// map internal instruction opcode to public insn ID
 			handle->insn_id(handle, insn, mci.Opcode);
@@ -1320,8 +1342,11 @@ size_t CAPSTONE_API cs_disasm(csh ud, const uint8_t *code, size_t code_size,
 			// we have to skip some amount of data, depending on arch & mode
 			insn->id = 0;	// invalid ID for this "data" instruction
 			insn->address = address;
-			insn->size = (uint16_t) skipdata_bytes;
-			memcpy(insn->bytes, code, skipdata_bytes);
+			if (!cs_insn_set_size(insn, (uint16_t) skipdata_bytes)) {
+				handle->errnum = CS_ERR_MEM;
+				return 0;
+			}
+			memcpy(CS_INSN_BYTES(insn), code, skipdata_bytes);
 #ifdef CAPSTONE_DIET
 			insn->mnemonic[0] = '\0';
 			insn->op_str[0] = '\0';
diff --git a/cstool/cstool.c b/cstool/cstool.c
index 51399673ec..9472e215f6 100644
--- a/cstool/cstool.c
+++ b/cstool/cstool.c
@@ -653,13 +653,14 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (count > 0) {
 		cs_insn *insn = buffer->insn;
 		for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
+			uint8_t *bytes = CS_INSN_BYTES(&insn[i]);
 			int j;
 
 			printf("%2"PRIx64"  ", insn[i].address);
 			for (j = 0; j < insn[i].size; j++) {
 				if (j > 0)
 					putchar(' ');
-				printf("%02x", insn[i].bytes[j]);
+				printf("%02x", bytes[j]);
 			}
 			// Align instruction when it varies in size.
 			// ex: x86, s390x or compressed riscv
diff --git a/include/capstone/capstone.h b/include/capstone/capstone.h
index 7d4cc28308..d091590c0f 100644
--- a/include/capstone/capstone.h
+++ b/include/capstone/capstone.h
@@ -450,9 +450,12 @@ typedef struct cs_insn {
 	/// This information is available even when CS_OPT_DETAIL = CS_OPT_OFF
 	uint16_t size;
 
-	/// Machine bytes of this instruction, with number of bytes indicated by @size above
-	/// This information is available even when CS_OPT_DETAIL = CS_OPT_OFF
-	uint8_t bytes[24];
+	/// Use CS_INSN_BYTES() to access instruction bytes.
+	union cs_insn_bytes {
+		// NOTE: Size is selected based on the length of x86 instructions.
+		uint8_t arr[16];
+		uint8_t *ptr;
+	} bytes;
 
 	/// Ascii text of instruction mnemonic
 	/// This information is available even when CS_OPT_DETAIL = CS_OPT_OFF
@@ -481,6 +484,10 @@ typedef struct cs_insn {
 	cs_detail *detail;
 } cs_insn;
 
+/// Machine bytes of this instruction, with number of bytes indicated by @size above
+/// This information is available even when CS_OPT_DETAIL = CS_OPT_OFF
+#define CS_INSN_BYTES(INSN) \
+	((INSN)->size > sizeof((INSN)->bytes.arr) ? (INSN)->bytes.ptr : (INSN)->bytes.arr)
 
 /// Calculate the offset of a disassembled instruction in its buffer, given its position
 /// in its array of disassembled insn
diff --git a/tests/test_m680x.c b/tests/test_m680x.c
index 4cfb450266..a7b15f99c9 100644
--- a/tests/test_m680x.c
+++ b/tests/test_m680x.c
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ static void test()
 			for (j = 0; j < count; j++) {
 				int slen;
 				printf("0x%04x: ", (uint16_t)insn[j].address);
-				print_string_hex_short(insn[j].bytes,
+				print_string_hex_short(CS_INSN_BYTES(&insn[j]),
 					insn[j].size);
 				printf("%.*s", 1 + ((5 - insn[j].size) * 2),
 					nine_spaces);