diff --git a/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.cpp b/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.cpp
index d6aec9f0..58bb9231 100644
--- a/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.cpp
+++ b/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.cpp
@@ -103,11 +103,6 @@ int16_t PhysicalLayer::receive(String& str, size_t len) {
   // user can override the length of data to read
   size_t length = len;
 
-  if(len == 0) {
-    // unknown packet length, set to maximum
-    length = _maxPacketLength;
-  }
-
   // build a temporary buffer
   #if defined(RADIOLIB_STATIC_ONLY)
     uint8_t data[RADIOLIB_STATIC_ARRAY_SIZE + 1];
diff --git a/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.h b/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.h
index 0245b8f4..425dddc7 100644
--- a/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.h
+++ b/src/protocols/PhysicalLayer/PhysicalLayer.h
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ class PhysicalLayer {
 
       \param str Address of Arduino String to save the received data.
 
-      \param len Expected number of characters in the message.
+      \param len Expected number of characters in the message. When set to 0, the packet length will be retreived automatically.
+      When more bytes than received are requested, only the number of bytes requested will be returned.
 
       \returns \ref status_codes
     */
@@ -155,7 +156,8 @@ class PhysicalLayer {
 
       \param data Pointer to array to save the received binary data.
 
-      \param len Number of bytes that will be received. Must be known in advance for binary transmissions.
+      \param len Number of bytes that will be read. When set to 0, the packet length will be retreived automatically.
+      When more bytes than received are requested, only the number of bytes requested will be returned.
 
       \returns \ref status_codes
     */