diff --git a/kitty/data-types.c b/kitty/data-types.c
index 3af625b5a..f4d795c11 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.c
+++ b/kitty/data-types.c
@@ -341,10 +341,14 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, APC);
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, OSC);
     PyModule_AddIntMacro(m, FILE_TRANSFER_CODE);
-    // FreeBSD's man page says this is 1023. Linux says its PATH_MAX.
+#ifdef __APPLE__
     // Apple says its SHM_NAME_MAX but SHM_NAME_MAX is not actually declared in typical CrApple style.
-    // Experimentation shows that 1023 is allowed on macOS Catalina
+    // This value is based on experimentation
+    PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "SHM_NAME_MAX", 30);
+#else
+    // FreeBSD's man page says this is 1023. Linux says its PATH_MAX.
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "SHM_NAME_MAX", MIN(1023, PATH_MAX));
+#endif
 
     return m;
 }