diff --git a/src/variable.cpp b/src/variable.cpp
index 9ec7b6eeb2..50703ad9f5 100644
--- a/src/variable.cpp
+++ b/src/variable.cpp
@@ -580,7 +580,7 @@ char *Variable::retrieve(char *name)
   } else if (style[ivar] == EQUAL) {
     char result[64];
     double answer = evaluate(data[ivar][0],NULL);
-    sprintf(result,"%.20g",answer);
+    sprintf(result,"%.15g",answer);
     int n = strlen(result) + 1;
     if (data[ivar][1]) delete [] data[ivar][1];
     data[ivar][1] = new char[n];