diff --git a/src/cmd.c b/src/cmd.c
index 72190c1f4..0593a67f7 100644
--- a/src/cmd.c
+++ b/src/cmd.c
@@ -3650,20 +3650,22 @@ paranoid_query(be_paranoid, prompt)
 boolean be_paranoid;
 const char *prompt;
 {
-	char qbuf[QBUFSZ], ans[BUFSZ];
-	const char *responsetype, *promptprefix = "";
 	boolean confirmed_ok;
 
 	/* when paranoid, player must respond with "yes" rather than just 'y'
 	   to give the go-ahead for this query; default is "no" unless the
 	   ParanoidConfirm flag is set in which case there's no default */
 	if (be_paranoid) {
+	    char qbuf[QBUFSZ], ans[BUFSZ];
+	    const char *promptprefix = "",
+		*responsetype = ParanoidConfirm ? "(yes|no)" : "(yes) [no]";
+	    int trylimit = 6; /* 1 normal, 5 more with "Yes or No:" prefix */
+
 	    /* in addition to being paranoid about this particular
 	       query, we might be even more paranoid about all paranoia
 	       responses (ie, ParanoidConfirm is set) in which case we
 	       require "no" to reject in addition to "yes" to confirm
 	       (except we won't loop if respose is ESC; it means no) */
-	    responsetype = ParanoidConfirm ? "(yes|no)" : "(yes) [no]";
 	    do {
 		Sprintf(qbuf, "%s%s %s", promptprefix, prompt, responsetype);
 		getlin(qbuf, ans);
@@ -3671,7 +3673,7 @@ const char *prompt;
 		confirmed_ok = !strcmpi(ans, "yes");
 		if (confirmed_ok || *ans == '\033') break;
 		promptprefix = "\"Yes\" or \"No\": ";
-	    } while (ParanoidConfirm && strcmpi(ans, "no"));
+	    } while (ParanoidConfirm && strcmpi(ans, "no") && --trylimit);
 	} else
 	    confirmed_ok = (yn(prompt) == 'y');