diff --git a/hash_map.c b/hash_map.c
index a4aa454..bad9f40 100644
--- a/hash_map.c
+++ b/hash_map.c
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ void *hash_map_get_raw(HashMap *self, void *key) {
 void hash_map_insert(HashMap *self, void *key, void *value) {
     uintptr_t hash = self->hasher(key);
     // stage key-value-pair data
-    char data[sizeof(uintptr_t) + self->key_size + self->value_size];
+    char data[self->buckets[0].element_size];
     memcpy(data, &hash, sizeof(uintptr_t)); // copy key hash into start of data
-    memcpy(data + sizeof(uintptr_t), key, self->key_size);
+    memcpy(data + sizeof(uintptr_t), key, self->key_size); // copy key after hash
     memcpy(data + sizeof(uintptr_t) + self->key_size, value, self->value_size); // copy value into end of data
     // insert staged data into list
     list_add(self->buckets + (hash % CUTES_HASH_MAP_BUCKETS), data);