diff --git a/include/instance.hpp b/include/instance.hpp
index 17425cd..914a470 100644
--- a/include/instance.hpp
+++ b/include/instance.hpp
@@ -94,10 +94,7 @@ public:
      *  @since  0.1.0
      */
     [[nodiscard]]
-    inline uint64_t get_max_chars() const
-    {
-        return _max_chars;
-    }
+    uint64_t get_max_chars();
 
 private:
     const string _hostname;
diff --git a/src/instance.cpp b/src/instance.cpp
index c765345..b367f9b 100644
--- a/src/instance.cpp
+++ b/src/instance.cpp
@@ -27,40 +27,51 @@ Instance::Instance(const string_view &hostname, const string_view &access_token)
     : _hostname{hostname}
     , _baseuri{"https://" + _hostname}
     , _access_token{access_token}
-    , _max_chars{500}
+    , _max_chars{0}
+{}
+
+uint64_t Instance::get_max_chars()
 {
-    try
-    {
-        debuglog << "Querying " << _hostname << " for max_toot_chars…\n";
-        const auto answer{make_request(http_method::GET,
-                                       _baseuri + "/api/v1/instance")};
-        if (!answer)
-        {
-            return;
-        }
+    constexpr uint64_t default_max_chars{500};
 
-        _max_chars = [&answer]
+    if (_max_chars == 0)
+    {
+        try
         {
-            auto &body{answer.body};
-            size_t pos_start{body.find("max_toot_chars")};
-            if (pos_start == string::npos)
+            debuglog << "Querying " << _hostname << " for max_toot_chars…\n";
+            const auto answer{make_request(http_method::GET,
+                                           _baseuri + "/api/v1/instance")};
+            if (!answer)
             {
-                debuglog << "max_toot_chars not found.\n";
-                return static_cast<uint64_t>(500);
+                debuglog << "Could not get instance info.\n";
+                return default_max_chars;
             }
-            pos_start = body.find(':', pos_start) + 1;
-            const size_t pos_end{body.find(',', pos_start)};
 
-            const auto max_toot_chars{body.substr(pos_start,
-                                                  pos_end - pos_start)};
-            return static_cast<uint64_t>(stoull(max_toot_chars));
-        }();
-        debuglog << "Set _max_chars to: " << _max_chars << '\n';
-    }
-    catch (const std::exception &e)
-    {
-        debuglog << "Unexpected exception: " << e.what() << '\n';
+            _max_chars = [&answer]
+            {
+                auto &body{answer.body};
+                size_t pos_start{body.find("max_toot_chars")};
+                if (pos_start == string::npos)
+                {
+                    debuglog << "max_toot_chars not found.\n";
+                    return default_max_chars;
+                }
+                pos_start = body.find(':', pos_start) + 1;
+                const size_t pos_end{body.find(',', pos_start)};
+
+                const auto max_toot_chars{body.substr(pos_start,
+                                                      pos_end - pos_start)};
+                return static_cast<uint64_t>(stoull(max_toot_chars));
+            }();
+            debuglog << "Set _max_chars to: " << _max_chars << '\n';
+        }
+        catch (const std::exception &e)
+        {
+            debuglog << "Unexpected exception: " << e.what() << '\n';
+        }
     }
+
+    return _max_chars;
 }
 
 } // namespace mastodonpp