diff --git a/src/treelearner/data_parallel_tree_learner.cpp b/src/treelearner/data_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
index 98dca40edb0d..f91dcdc9b250 100644
--- a/src/treelearner/data_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
+++ b/src/treelearner/data_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
@@ -26,8 +26,14 @@ void DataParallelTreeLearner<TREELEARNER_T>::Init(const Dataset* train_data, boo
   // Get local rank and global machine size
   rank_ = Network::rank();
   num_machines_ = Network::num_machines();
+
+  auto max_cat_threshold = this->config_->max_cat_threshold;
+  // need to be able to hold smaller and larger best splits in SyncUpGlobalBestSplit
+  size_t split_info_size = static_cast<size_t>(SplitInfo::Size(max_cat_threshold) * 2);
+  size_t histogram_size = static_cast<size_t>(this->train_data_->NumTotalBin() * kHistEntrySize);
+
   // allocate buffer for communication
-  size_t buffer_size = this->train_data_->NumTotalBin() * kHistEntrySize;
+  size_t buffer_size = std::max(histogram_size, split_info_size);
 
   input_buffer_.resize(buffer_size);
   output_buffer_.resize(buffer_size);
diff --git a/src/treelearner/feature_parallel_tree_learner.cpp b/src/treelearner/feature_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
index 1523f004eb8d..74df187d46b2 100644
--- a/src/treelearner/feature_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
+++ b/src/treelearner/feature_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
@@ -24,8 +24,13 @@ void FeatureParallelTreeLearner<TREELEARNER_T>::Init(const Dataset* train_data,
   TREELEARNER_T::Init(train_data, is_constant_hessian);
   rank_ = Network::rank();
   num_machines_ = Network::num_machines();
-  input_buffer_.resize((sizeof(SplitInfo) + sizeof(uint32_t) * this->config_->max_cat_threshold) * 2);
-  output_buffer_.resize((sizeof(SplitInfo) + sizeof(uint32_t) * this->config_->max_cat_threshold) * 2);
+
+  auto max_cat_threshold = this->config_->max_cat_threshold;
+  // need to be able to hold smaller and larger best splits in SyncUpGlobalBestSplit
+  int split_info_size = SplitInfo::Size(max_cat_threshold) * 2;
+
+  input_buffer_.resize(split_info_size);
+  output_buffer_.resize(split_info_size);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/treelearner/split_info.hpp b/src/treelearner/split_info.hpp
index 86653522dd04..492434d5160f 100644
--- a/src/treelearner/split_info.hpp
+++ b/src/treelearner/split_info.hpp
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ struct SplitInfo {
   bool default_left = true;
   int8_t monotone_type = 0;
   inline static int Size(int max_cat_threshold) {
-    return 2 * sizeof(int) + sizeof(uint32_t) + sizeof(bool) + sizeof(double) * 9 + sizeof(data_size_t) * 2 + max_cat_threshold * sizeof(uint32_t) + sizeof(int8_t);
+    return 2 * sizeof(int) + sizeof(uint32_t) + sizeof(bool) + sizeof(double) * 7 + sizeof(data_size_t) * 2 + max_cat_threshold * sizeof(uint32_t) + sizeof(int8_t);
   }
 
   inline void CopyTo(char* buffer) const {
diff --git a/src/treelearner/voting_parallel_tree_learner.cpp b/src/treelearner/voting_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
index 660a633193d8..d14e0d614ce0 100644
--- a/src/treelearner/voting_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
+++ b/src/treelearner/voting_parallel_tree_learner.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,10 @@ void VotingParallelTreeLearner<TREELEARNER_T>::Init(const Dataset* train_data, b
   }
   // calculate buffer size
   size_t buffer_size = 2 * top_k_ * std::max(max_bin * kHistEntrySize, sizeof(LightSplitInfo) * num_machines_);
+  auto max_cat_threshold = this->config_->max_cat_threshold;
+  // need to be able to hold smaller and larger best splits in SyncUpGlobalBestSplit
+  size_t split_info_size = static_cast<size_t>(SplitInfo::Size(max_cat_threshold) * 2);
+  buffer_size = std::max(buffer_size, split_info_size);
   // left and right on same time, so need double size
   input_buffer_.resize(buffer_size);
   output_buffer_.resize(buffer_size);