diff --git a/src/vrend_shader.c b/src/vrend_shader.c
index 8e2d174..4ea0a8f 100644
--- a/src/vrend_shader.c
+++ b/src/vrend_shader.c
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ struct dump_ctx {
    int prog_type;
    int size;
    struct vrend_strbuf glsl_main;
+   int indent_level;
    struct vrend_strbuf glsl_hdr;
    struct vrend_strbuf glsl_ver_ext;
    uint instno;
@@ -547,19 +548,36 @@ static void require_glsl_ver(struct dump_ctx *ctx, int glsl_ver)
       ctx->glsl_ver_required = glsl_ver;
 }
 
+static void emit_indent(struct dump_ctx *ctx)
+{
+   if (ctx->indent_level > 0) {
+      /* very high levels of indentation doesn't improve readability */
+      int indent_level = MIN2(ctx->indent_level, 15);
+      char buf[16];
+      memset(buf, '\t', indent_level);
+      buf[indent_level] = '\0';
+      strbuf_append(&ctx->glsl_main, buf);
+   }
+}
+
 static void emit_buf(struct dump_ctx *ctx, const char *buf)
 {
+   emit_indent(ctx);
    strbuf_append(&ctx->glsl_main, buf);
 }
 
 static void indent_buf(struct dump_ctx *ctx)
 {
-   return strbuf_indent(&ctx->glsl_main);
+   ctx->indent_level++;
 }
 
 static void outdent_buf(struct dump_ctx *ctx)
 {
-   return strbuf_outdent(&ctx->glsl_main);
+   if (ctx->indent_level <= 0) {
+      strbuf_set_error(&ctx->glsl_main);
+      return;
+   }
+   ctx->indent_level--;
 }
 
 static void set_buf_error(struct dump_ctx *ctx)
@@ -572,6 +590,7 @@ static void emit_buff(struct dump_ctx *ctx, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
    va_list va;
    va_start(va, fmt);
+   emit_indent(ctx);
    strbuf_vappendf(&ctx->glsl_main, fmt, va);
    va_end(va);
 }
diff --git a/src/vrend_strbuf.h b/src/vrend_strbuf.h
index 3899f83..080e798 100644
--- a/src/vrend_strbuf.h
+++ b/src/vrend_strbuf.h
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ struct vrend_strbuf {
    /* size of string stored without terminating NULL */
    size_t size;
    bool error_state;
-   int indent_level;
 };
 
 static inline void strbuf_set_error(struct vrend_strbuf *sb)
@@ -55,20 +54,6 @@ static inline bool strbuf_get_error(struct vrend_strbuf *sb)
    return sb->error_state;
 }
 
-static inline void strbuf_indent(struct vrend_strbuf *sb)
-{
-   sb->indent_level++;
-}
-
-static inline void strbuf_outdent(struct vrend_strbuf *sb)
-{
-   if (sb->indent_level <= 0) {
-      strbuf_set_error(sb);
-      return;
-   }
-   sb->indent_level--;
-}
-
 static inline size_t strbuf_get_len(struct vrend_strbuf *sb)
 {
    return sb->size;
@@ -88,7 +73,6 @@ static inline bool strbuf_alloc(struct vrend_strbuf *sb, int initial_size)
    sb->buf[0] = 0;
    sb->error_state = false;
    sb->size = 0;
-   sb->indent_level = 0;
    return true;
 }
 
@@ -98,14 +82,13 @@ static inline bool strbuf_alloc(struct vrend_strbuf *sb, int initial_size)
 static inline void strbuf_append_buffer(struct vrend_strbuf *sb, const char *data, size_t len)
 {
    assert(!memchr(data, '\0', len));
-   int new_len = len + sb->indent_level;
    if (strbuf_get_error(sb))
       return;
-   if (sb->size + new_len + 1 > sb->alloc_size) {
+   if (sb->size + len + 1 > sb->alloc_size) {
       /* Reallocate to the larger size of current alloc + min realloc,
        * or the resulting string size if larger.
        */
-      size_t new_size = MAX2(sb->size + new_len + 1, sb->alloc_size + STRBUF_MIN_MALLOC);
+      size_t new_size = MAX2(sb->size + len + 1, sb->alloc_size + STRBUF_MIN_MALLOC);
       char *new = realloc(sb->buf, new_size);
       if (!new) {
          strbuf_set_error(sb);
@@ -114,14 +97,8 @@ static inline void strbuf_append_buffer(struct vrend_strbuf *sb, const char *dat
       sb->buf = new;
       sb->alloc_size = new_size;
    }
-   if (sb->indent_level) {
-      memset(sb->buf + sb->size, '\t', sb->indent_level);
-      sb->size += sb->indent_level;
-      sb->buf[sb->size] = '\0';
-      new_len -= sb->indent_level;
-   }
-   memcpy(sb->buf + sb->size, data, new_len);
-   sb->size += new_len;
+   memcpy(sb->buf + sb->size, data, len);
+   sb->size += len;
    sb->buf[sb->size] = '\0';
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test_virgl_strbuf.c b/tests/test_virgl_strbuf.c
index ef5f902..ff348cd 100644
--- a/tests/test_virgl_strbuf.c
+++ b/tests/test_virgl_strbuf.c
@@ -159,57 +159,6 @@ START_TEST(strbuf_test_boundary2)
 }
 END_TEST
 
-START_TEST(strbuf_test_indent)
-{
-   struct vrend_strbuf sb;
-   bool ret;
-   char str[9];
-   ret = strbuf_alloc(&sb, 1024);
-   ck_assert_int_eq(ret, true);
-
-   for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
-      str[i] = 'a' + i;
-   str[8] = 0;
-
-   strbuf_indent(&sb);
-   strbuf_append(&sb, str);
-   strbuf_outdent(&sb);
-   strbuf_append(&sb, str);
-   /* make sure the TAB got added */
-   ck_assert_int_eq(strbuf_get_error(&sb), false);
-
-   ck_assert_str_eq(sb.buf, "\tabcdefghabcdefgh");
-   strbuf_free(&sb);
-}
-END_TEST
-
-START_TEST(strbuf_test_indent2)
-{
-   struct vrend_strbuf sb;
-   bool ret;
-   char str[513];
-   ret = strbuf_alloc(&sb, 1024);
-   ck_assert_int_eq(ret, true);
-
-   strbuf_indent(&sb);
-   for (int i = 0; i < 512; i++)
-      str[i] = 'a' + (i % 26);
-   str[512] = 0;
-   strbuf_append(&sb, str);
-   strbuf_outdent(&sb);
-   /* make sure the TAB got added */
-   ck_assert_int_eq(strbuf_get_len(&sb), strlen(str) + 1);
-   strbuf_append(&sb, str);
-   ck_assert_int_eq(strbuf_get_error(&sb), false);
-   ck_assert_int_eq(strbuf_get_len(&sb), strlen(sb.buf));
-   /* we should have 512 + 512 + 1 at least */
-   ck_assert_int_ge(sb.alloc_size, strbuf_get_len(&sb) + 1);
-   ck_assert_int_gt(sb.alloc_size, 1024);
-
-   strbuf_free(&sb);
-}
-END_TEST
-
 START_TEST(strbuf_test_appendf)
 {
    struct vrend_strbuf sb;
@@ -251,8 +200,6 @@ static Suite *init_suite(void)
   tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_add_huge_string);
   tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_test_boundary);
   tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_test_boundary2);
-  tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_test_indent);
-  tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_test_indent2);
   tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_test_appendf);
   tcase_add_test(tc_core, strbuf_test_appendf_str);
   return s;