Index: Python/getargs.c
===================================================================
--- Python/getargs.c	(revision 59228)
+++ Python/getargs.c	(working copy)
@@ -894,7 +894,8 @@
 		char **buffer;
 		const char *encoding;
 		PyObject *s;
-		int size, recode_strings;
+		Py_ssize_t size;
+		int recode_strings;
 
 		/* Get 'e' parameter: the encoding name */
 		encoding = (const char *)va_arg(*p_va, const char *);
@@ -1144,7 +1145,7 @@
 	case 'w': { /* memory buffer, read-write access */
 		void **p = va_arg(*p_va, void **);
 		PyBufferProcs *pb = arg->ob_type->tp_as_buffer;
-		int count;
+		Py_ssize_t count;
 			
 		if (pb == NULL || 
 		    pb->bf_getwritebuffer == NULL ||
@@ -1166,7 +1167,7 @@
 	case 't': { /* 8-bit character buffer, read-only access */
 		char **p = va_arg(*p_va, char **);
 		PyBufferProcs *pb = arg->ob_type->tp_as_buffer;
-		int count;
+		Py_ssize_t count;
 		
 		if (*format++ != '#')
 			return converterr(
Index: Lib/test/test_bigmem.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_bigmem.py	(revision 59228)
+++ Lib/test/test_bigmem.py	(working copy)
@@ -65,13 +65,15 @@
         self.assertEquals(s.count('i'), 1)
         self.assertEquals(s.count('j'), 0)
 
-    @bigmemtest(minsize=0, memuse=1)
+    @bigmemtest(minsize=_2G, memuse=3)
     def test_decode(self, size):
-        pass
+        s = '.' * size
+        self.assertEquals(len(s.decode('utf-8')), size)
 
-    @bigmemtest(minsize=0, memuse=1)
+    @bigmemtest(minsize=_2G, memuse=3)
     def test_encode(self, size):
-        pass
+        s = u'.' * size
+        self.assertEquals(len(s.encode('utf-8')), size)
 
     @bigmemtest(minsize=_2G, memuse=2)
     def test_endswith(self, size):