diff --git a/options/m_config.c b/options/m_config.c
index c39f3ab41a..0f112dcefb 100644
--- a/options/m_config.c
+++ b/options/m_config.c
@@ -115,7 +115,6 @@ static int parse_profile(struct m_config *config, const struct m_option *opt,
 static int show_profile(struct m_config *config, bstr param)
 {
     struct m_profile *p;
-    int i, j;
     if (!param.len)
         return M_OPT_MISSING_PARAM;
     if (!(p = m_config_get_profile(config, param))) {
@@ -126,25 +125,18 @@ static int show_profile(struct m_config *config, bstr param)
         MP_INFO(config, "Profile %s: %s\n", p->name,
                 p->desc ? p->desc : "");
     config->profile_depth++;
-    for (i = 0; i < p->num_opts; i++) {
-        char spc[config->profile_depth + 1];
-        for (j = 0; j < config->profile_depth; j++)
-            spc[j] = ' ';
-        spc[config->profile_depth] = '\0';
-
-        MP_INFO(config, "%s%s=%s\n", spc, p->opts[2 * i], p->opts[2 * i + 1]);
+    for (int i = 0; i < p->num_opts; i++) {
+        MP_INFO(config, "%*s%s=%s\n", config->profile_depth, "",
+                p->opts[2 * i], p->opts[2 * i + 1]);
 
         if (config->profile_depth < MAX_PROFILE_DEPTH
             && !strcmp(p->opts[2*i], "profile")) {
             char *e, *list = p->opts[2 * i + 1];
             while ((e = strchr(list, ','))) {
                 int l = e - list;
-                char tmp[l+1];
                 if (!l)
                     continue;
-                memcpy(tmp, list, l);
-                tmp[l] = '\0';
-                show_profile(config, bstr0(tmp));
+                show_profile(config, (bstr){list, e - list});
                 list = e + 1;
             }
             if (list[0] != '\0')
diff --git a/options/m_property.c b/options/m_property.c
index 9af3c91081..9318d5b7d2 100644
--- a/options/m_property.c
+++ b/options/m_property.c
@@ -49,14 +49,12 @@ static struct m_property *m_property_list_find(const struct m_property *list,
 static int do_action(const struct m_property *prop_list, const char *name,
                      int action, void *arg, void *ctx)
 {
-    const char *sep;
     struct m_property *prop;
     struct m_property_action_arg ka;
-    if ((sep = strchr(name, '/')) && sep[1]) {
-        int len = sep - name;
-        char base[len + 1];
-        memcpy(base, name, len);
-        base[len] = 0;
+    const char *sep = strchr(name, '/');
+    if (sep && sep[1]) {
+        char base[128];
+        snprintf(base, sizeof(base), "%.*s", (int)(sep - name), name);
         prop = m_property_list_find(prop_list, base);
         ka = (struct m_property_action_arg) {
             .key = sep + 1,
diff --git a/video/filter/vf.c b/video/filter/vf.c
index 6ad484c7ff..b16c0b3627 100644
--- a/video/filter/vf.c
+++ b/video/filter/vf.c
@@ -269,12 +269,15 @@ static vf_instance_t *vf_open_filter(struct vf_chain *c, const char *name,
     for (i = 0; args && args[2 * i]; i++)
         l += 1 + strlen(args[2 * i]) + 1 + strlen(args[2 * i + 1]);
     l += strlen(name);
-    char str[l + 1];
+    char *str = malloc(l + 1);
+    if (!str)
+        return NULL;
     char *p = str;
     p += sprintf(str, "%s", name);
     for (i = 0; args && args[2 * i]; i++)
         p += sprintf(p, " %s=%s", args[2 * i], args[2 * i + 1]);
     MP_INFO(c, "Opening video filter: [%s]\n", str);
+    free(str);
     return vf_open(c, name, args);
 }
 
diff --git a/video/out/vo_vdpau.c b/video/out/vo_vdpau.c
index 73aae1d45c..72a08adac7 100644
--- a/video/out/vo_vdpau.c
+++ b/video/out/vo_vdpau.c
@@ -651,13 +651,15 @@ static void generate_osd_part(struct vo *vo, struct sub_bitmaps *imgs)
         CHECK_VDP_WARNING(vo, "OSD: error when creating surface");
     }
     if (imgs->scaled) {
-        char zeros[sfc->packer->used_width * format_size];
-        memset(zeros, 0, sizeof(zeros));
+        char *zeros = calloc(sfc->packer->used_width, format_size);
+        if (!zeros)
+            return;
         vdp_st = vdp->bitmap_surface_put_bits_native(sfc->surface,
                 &(const void *){zeros}, &(uint32_t){0},
                 &(VdpRect){0, 0, sfc->packer->used_width,
                                  sfc->packer->used_height});
         CHECK_VDP_WARNING(vo, "OSD: error uploading OSD bitmap");
+        free(zeros);
     }
 
     if (sfc->surface == VDP_INVALID_HANDLE)
diff --git a/video/vaapi.c b/video/vaapi.c
index a8d27d50e4..1b4cdf6000 100644
--- a/video/vaapi.c
+++ b/video/vaapi.c
@@ -95,19 +95,16 @@ struct va_image_formats {
 
 static void va_get_formats(struct mp_vaapi_ctx *ctx)
 {
-    int num = vaMaxNumImageFormats(ctx->display);
-    VAImageFormat entries[num];
-    VAStatus status = vaQueryImageFormats(ctx->display, entries, &num);
+    struct va_image_formats *formats = talloc_ptrtype(ctx, formats);
+    formats->num = vaMaxNumImageFormats(ctx->display);
+    formats->entries = talloc_array(formats, VAImageFormat, formats->num);
+    VAStatus status = vaQueryImageFormats(ctx->display, formats->entries,
+                                          &formats->num);
     if (!CHECK_VA_STATUS(ctx, "vaQueryImageFormats()"))
         return;
-    struct va_image_formats *formats = talloc_ptrtype(ctx, formats);
-    formats->entries = talloc_array(formats, VAImageFormat, num);
-    formats->num = num;
-    MP_VERBOSE(ctx, "%d image formats available:\n", num);
-    for (int i = 0; i < num; i++) {
-        formats->entries[i] = entries[i];
-        MP_VERBOSE(ctx, "  %s\n", VA_STR_FOURCC(entries[i].fourcc));
-    }
+    MP_VERBOSE(ctx, "%d image formats available:\n", formats->num);
+    for (int i = 0; i < formats->num; i++)
+        MP_VERBOSE(ctx, "  %s\n", VA_STR_FOURCC(formats->entries[i].fourcc));
     ctx->image_formats = formats;
 }