diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 02e6800..72120d5 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -351,6 +351,9 @@ parse_config(Display * disp, int scr, DC * drawcontext, const char *confpatharg,
             continue;
         }
         awesomeconf->layouts[i].symbol = a_strdup(cfg_getstr(cfgsectmp, "symbol"));
+        j = drawcontext->font->height + textwidth(disp, drawcontext->font, awesomeconf->layouts[i].symbol, a_strlen(awesomeconf->layouts[i].symbol));
+        if(j > awesomeconf->statusbar.width)
+            awesomeconf->statusbar.width = j;
     }
 
     awesomeconf->mwfact = cfg_getfloat(cfg_layouts, "mwfact");