diff --git a/mpp/include/mpp_util.inc b/mpp/include/mpp_util.inc
index 3f023d5bf..c52b7e396 100644
--- a/mpp/include/mpp_util.inc
+++ b/mpp/include/mpp_util.inc
@@ -1348,7 +1348,8 @@ end function rarray_to_char
     integer, dimension(2) :: get_ascii_file_num_lines_and_length !< number of lines (1) and
                                                                  !! max line length (2)
     integer :: num_lines, max_length
-    character(len=FMS_FILE_LEN) :: str_tmp
+    integer, parameter :: LENGTH=1024
+    character(len=LENGTH) :: str_tmp
     character(len=5) :: text
     integer :: status, f_unit, from_pe
     logical :: file_exist
@@ -1388,10 +1389,10 @@ end function rarray_to_char
                    call mpp_error(FATAL, 'get_ascii_file_num_lines: Error reading line '//trim(text)// &
                         ' in file '//trim(FILENAME)//'.')
                 end if
-                if ( len_trim(str_tmp) == FMS_FILE_LEN ) then
-                   write(UNIT=text, FMT='(I5)') FMS_FILE_LEN
+                if ( len_trim(str_tmp) == LENGTH) then
+                   write(UNIT=text, FMT='(I5)') LENGTH 
                    call mpp_error(FATAL, 'get_ascii_file_num_lines: Length of output string ('//trim(text)//&
-                                       & ' is too small. Increase the FMS_MAX_FILE_LEN cpp value.')
+                                       & ' is too small. Increase the LENGTH value.')
                 end if
                 if (len_trim(str_tmp) > max_length) max_length = len_trim(str_tmp)
                 num_lines = num_lines + 1
diff --git a/time_interp/time_interp_external2.F90 b/time_interp/time_interp_external2.F90
index b05add8e9..9f5e49bd1 100644
--- a/time_interp/time_interp_external2.F90
+++ b/time_interp/time_interp_external2.F90
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ module time_interp_external2_mod
   use time_interp_mod, only : time_interp, time_interp_init
   use axis_utils2_mod, only : get_axis_cart, get_axis_modulo, get_axis_modulo_times
   use fms_mod, only : lowercase, check_nml_error
-  use platform_mod, only: r8_kind, FMS_PATH_LEN
+  use platform_mod, only: r8_kind, FMS_FILE_LEN
   use horiz_interp_mod, only : horiz_interp, horiz_interp_type
   use fms2_io_mod,      only : Valid_t, FmsNetcdfDomainFile_t, open_file, get_unlimited_dimension_name, &
                                variable_att_exists, FmsNetcdfFile_t, &
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ module time_interp_external2_mod
     !> Holds filename and file object
     !> @ingroup time_interp_external2_mod
     type, private :: filetype
-        character(len=FMS_PATH_LEN) :: filename = ''
+        character(len=FMS_FILE_LEN) :: filename = ''
         type(FmsNetcdfFile_t), pointer :: fileobj => NULL()
     end type filetype