diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/compose/components/compose_form.js b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/compose/components/compose_form.js
index 83f2f4d342..e2d9eba816 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/compose/components/compose_form.js
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/compose/components/compose_form.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { isMobile } from '../../../is_mobile';
 import ImmutablePureComponent from 'react-immutable-pure-component';
 import { length } from 'stringz';
 import { countableText } from '../util/counter';
+import { maxChars } from '../../../initial_state';
 
 const allowedAroundShortCode = '><\u0085\u0020\u00a0\u1680\u2000\u2001\u2002\u2003\u2004\u2005\u2006\u2007\u2008\u2009\u200a\u202f\u205f\u3000\u2028\u2029\u0009\u000a\u000b\u000c\u000d';
 
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ export default class ComposeForm extends ImmutablePureComponent {
     const { is_submitting, is_uploading, anyMedia } = this.props;
     const fulltext = [this.props.spoiler_text, countableText(this.props.text)].join('');
 
-    if (is_submitting || is_uploading || length(fulltext) > 500 || (fulltext.length !== 0 && fulltext.trim().length === 0 && !anyMedia)) {
+    if (is_submitting || is_uploading || length(fulltext) > maxChars || (fulltext.length !== 0 && fulltext.trim().length === 0 && !anyMedia)) {
       return;
     }
 
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ export default class ComposeForm extends ImmutablePureComponent {
     const { intl, onPaste, showSearch, anyMedia } = this.props;
     const disabled = this.props.is_submitting;
     const text     = [this.props.spoiler_text, countableText(this.props.text)].join('');
-    const disabledButton = disabled || this.props.is_uploading || length(text) > 500 || (text.length !== 0 && text.trim().length === 0 && !anyMedia);
+    const disabledButton = disabled || this.props.is_uploading || length(text) > maxChars || (text.length !== 0 && text.trim().length === 0 && !anyMedia);
     let publishText = '';
 
     if (this.props.privacy === 'private' || this.props.privacy === 'direct') {
@@ -210,7 +211,7 @@ export default class ComposeForm extends ImmutablePureComponent {
             <SensitiveButtonContainer />
             <SpoilerButtonContainer />
           </div>
-          <div className='character-counter__wrapper'><CharacterCounter max={500} text={text} /></div>
+          <div className='character-counter__wrapper'><CharacterCounter max={maxChars} text={text} /></div>
         </div>
 
         <div className='compose-form__publish'>
diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/initial_state.js b/app/javascript/mastodon/initial_state.js
index df310e7e13..a67cdce3dc 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/initial_state.js
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/initial_state.js
@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@ export const boostModal = getMeta('boost_modal');
 export const deleteModal = getMeta('delete_modal');
 export const me = getMeta('me');
 export const searchEnabled = getMeta('search_enabled');
+export const maxChars = getMeta('max_toot_chars') || 500;
 
 export default initialState;