diff --git a/app/soapbox/features/compose/components/upload.js b/app/soapbox/features/compose/components/upload.js
index 7fd373e7b..14b8ba5c9 100644
--- a/app/soapbox/features/compose/components/upload.js
+++ b/app/soapbox/features/compose/components/upload.js
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class Upload extends ImmutablePureComponent {
   }
 
   render() {
-    const { intl, media } = this.props;
+    const { intl, media, descriptionLimit } = this.props;
     const active          = this.state.hovered || this.state.focused;
     const description     = this.state.dirtyDescription || (this.state.dirtyDescription !== '' && media.get('description')) || '';
     const focusX = media.getIn(['meta', 'focus', 'x']);
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ class Upload extends ImmutablePureComponent {
                   <textarea
                     placeholder={intl.formatMessage(messages.description)}
                     value={description}
-                    maxLength={420}
+                    maxLength={descriptionLimit}
                     onFocus={this.handleInputFocus}
                     onChange={this.handleInputChange}
                     onBlur={this.handleInputBlur}
diff --git a/app/soapbox/features/compose/containers/upload_container.js b/app/soapbox/features/compose/containers/upload_container.js
index 7d8bbd1e2..08ee41667 100644
--- a/app/soapbox/features/compose/containers/upload_container.js
+++ b/app/soapbox/features/compose/containers/upload_container.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { List as ImmutableList } from 'immutable';
 
 const mapStateToProps = (state, { id }) => ({
   media: state.getIn(['compose', 'media_attachments']).find(item => item.get('id') === id),
+  descriptionLimit: state.getIn(['instance', 'description_limit']),
 });
 
 const mapDispatchToProps = dispatch => ({
diff --git a/app/soapbox/reducers/__tests__/instance-test.js b/app/soapbox/reducers/__tests__/instance-test.js
index 47cbb936a..a2ed8545b 100644
--- a/app/soapbox/reducers/__tests__/instance-test.js
+++ b/app/soapbox/reducers/__tests__/instance-test.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ describe('instance reducer', () => {
   it('should return the initial state', () => {
     expect(reducer(undefined, {})).toEqual(ImmutableMap({
       max_toot_chars: 500,
+      description_limit: 1500,
       poll_limits: ImmutableMap({
         max_expiration: 2629746,
         max_option_chars: 25,
diff --git a/app/soapbox/reducers/instance.js b/app/soapbox/reducers/instance.js
index 36f06e0b5..85001e577 100644
--- a/app/soapbox/reducers/instance.js
+++ b/app/soapbox/reducers/instance.js
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ const nodeinfoToInstance = nodeinfo => {
 // Set Mastodon defaults, overridden by Pleroma servers
 const initialState = ImmutableMap({
   max_toot_chars: 500,
+  description_limit: 1500,
   poll_limits: ImmutableMap({
     max_expiration: 2629746,
     max_option_chars: 25,