diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 22ee175..bcddde2 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -7852,7 +7852,7 @@ $as_echo "$as_me: WARNING: NICKLEN has a hard limit of 50. Setting NICKLEN=50" >
   fi
 
 else
-  NICKLEN=15
+  NICKLEN=31
 fi
 
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 89b91a5..25e2b40 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -873,7 +873,7 @@ AC_HELP_STRING([--with-nicklen=LENGTH],[Set the nick length to LENGTH (default 1
   else
 	NICKLEN="$withval"
   fi
-], [NICKLEN=15])
+], [NICKLEN=31])
 
 AC_ARG_WITH(topiclen,           
 AC_HELP_STRING([--with-topiclen=NUMBER],[Set the max topic length to NUMBER (default 390, max 390)]),