diff --git a/crates/segment/src/pt.rs b/crates/segment/src/pt.rs
index 35ed57297..d10b32b20 100644
--- a/crates/segment/src/pt.rs
+++ b/crates/segment/src/pt.rs
@@ -108,10 +108,14 @@ fn read_entry<'a>(b: &'a [u8], e: &Entry) -> Result<std::borrow::Cow<'a, [u8]>>
     match e.method {
         0 => Ok(std::borrow::Cow::Borrowed(raw)),
         8 => {
-            if e.size > MAX_ENTRY_BYTES {
+            // Deflate expands at most about 1032:1, so a stated size past that is not this entry's.
+            if e.size > MAX_ENTRY_BYTES || e.size > e.stored.saturating_mul(1032).saturating_add(64) {
                 return Err("zip entry exceeds the size limit".into());
             }
-            miniz_oxide::inflate::decompress_to_vec_with_limit(raw, e.size.max(1)).map(std::borrow::Cow::Owned).map_err(|e| format!("bad deflate data: {e:?}"))
+            // The status only: the error's partial output can be as large as the entry.
+            miniz_oxide::inflate::decompress_to_vec_with_limit(raw, e.size.max(1))
+                .map(std::borrow::Cow::Owned)
+                .map_err(|e| format!("bad deflate data: {:?}", e.status))
         }
         m => Err(format!("unsupported zip compression {m}")),
     }
@@ -162,6 +166,9 @@ fn nodes(o: &Obj, budget: usize) -> usize {
     let kids: Vec<&Obj> = match o {
         Obj::Tuple(v) | Obj::List(v) => v.iter().collect(),
         Obj::Dict(v) => v.iter().flat_map(|(k, x)| [k, x]).collect(),
+        // A string counts one node per 64 bytes it holds: copies of a long one are charged for
+        // what they keep, not as one object.
+        Obj::Str(s) | Obj::Global(s, _) | Obj::Storage(s, _) => return 1 + s.len() / 64,
         _ => return 1,
     };
     let mut n = 1;
@@ -209,6 +216,17 @@ fn memo_get(memo: &HashMap<u64, Obj>, k: u64, cloned: &mut usize) -> Result<Obj>
     Ok(o.clone())
 }
 
+/// A copy of the stack top to memoize, charged against the clone budget like a memo read: a
+/// program memoizing one large object many times keeps a copy each time.
+fn memo_put(stack: &[Obj], cloned: &mut usize) -> Result<Obj> {
+    let o = stack.last().ok_or("pickle stack underflow")?;
+    *cloned = cloned.saturating_add(nodes(o, MAX_PICKLE_NODES));
+    if *cloned > MAX_PICKLE_NODES {
+        return Err("pickle exceeds the object limit".into());
+    }
+    Ok(o.clone())
+}
+
 fn unpickle(p: &[u8]) -> Result<Obj> {
     let mut stack: Vec<Obj> = Vec::new();
     let mut memo: HashMap<u64, Obj> = HashMap::new();
@@ -310,15 +328,15 @@ fn unpickle(p: &[u8]) -> Result<Obj> {
             }
             b'q' => {
                 let k = take(&mut i, 1)?[0] as u64;
-                memo.insert(k, stack.last().cloned().ok_or("pickle stack underflow")?);
+                memo.insert(k, memo_put(&stack, &mut cloned)?);
             }
             b'r' => {
                 let s = take(&mut i, 4)?;
-                memo.insert(u32::from_le_bytes([s[0], s[1], s[2], s[3]]) as u64, stack.last().cloned().ok_or("pickle stack underflow")?);
+                memo.insert(u32::from_le_bytes([s[0], s[1], s[2], s[3]]) as u64, memo_put(&stack, &mut cloned)?);
             }
             0x94 => {
                 let k = memo.len() as u64;
-                memo.insert(k, stack.last().cloned().ok_or("pickle stack underflow")?);
+                memo.insert(k, memo_put(&stack, &mut cloned)?);
             }
             b'h' => {
                 let k = take(&mut i, 1)?[0] as u64;
@@ -609,4 +627,21 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(half_to_f32(0x3c00), 1.0);
         assert_eq!(half_to_f32(0xc000), -2.0);
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn memoizing_a_long_string_again_and_again_runs_out_of_the_budget() {
+        // A 1 MiB string memoized 300 times would keep 300 MiB of copies.
+        let mut p = vec![0x80, 2, b'X'];
+        p.extend_from_slice(&(1u32 << 20).to_le_bytes());
+        p.extend(std::iter::repeat_n(b'a', 1 << 20));
+        p.extend(std::iter::repeat_n(0x94, 300));
+        p.push(b'.');
+        assert!(unpickle(&p).is_err_and(|e| e.contains("object limit")));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn an_entry_stating_more_than_deflate_can_expand_to_is_refused() {
+        let e = Entry { data: 0, size: 1 << 29, stored: 4, method: 8 };
+        assert!(read_entry(&[0u8; 4], &e).is_err_and(|m| m.contains("size limit")));
+    }
 }