diff --git a/src/widget-boolean.c b/src/widget-boolean.c
index e971c5a..7fa26dc 100644
--- a/src/widget-boolean.c
+++ b/src/widget-boolean.c
@@ -9,6 +9,18 @@ static void button_clicked(GtkWidget *widget, struct alsa_elem *elem) {
   alsa_set_elem_value(elem, value);
 }
 
+static void toggle_button_set_text(struct alsa_elem *elem, const char *text) {
+  if (!text)
+    return;
+
+  if (*text == '*') {
+    GtkWidget *icon = gtk_image_new_from_icon_name(text + 1);
+    gtk_button_set_child(GTK_BUTTON(elem->widget), icon);
+  } else {
+    gtk_button_set_label(GTK_BUTTON(elem->widget), text);
+  }
+}
+
 static void toggle_button_updated(struct alsa_elem *elem) {
   int is_writable = alsa_get_elem_writable(elem);
   gtk_widget_set_sensitive(elem->widget, is_writable);
@@ -16,17 +28,7 @@ static void toggle_button_updated(struct alsa_elem *elem) {
   int value = alsa_get_elem_value(elem);
   gtk_toggle_button_set_active(GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON(elem->widget), value);
 
-  const char *text = elem->bool_text[value];
-  if (text) {
-    if (*text == '*') {
-      GtkWidget *icon = gtk_image_new_from_icon_name(text + 1);
-      gtk_button_set_child(GTK_BUTTON(elem->widget), icon);
-    } else {
-      gtk_button_set_label(
-        GTK_BUTTON(elem->widget), elem->bool_text[value]
-      );
-    }
-  }
+  toggle_button_set_text(elem, elem->bool_text[value]);
 }
 
 GtkWidget *make_boolean_alsa_elem(
@@ -44,6 +46,24 @@ GtkWidget *make_boolean_alsa_elem(
   elem->bool_text[0] = disabled_text;
   elem->bool_text[1] = enabled_text;
 
+  // find the maximum width and height of both possible labels
+  int max_width = 0, max_height = 0;
+  for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
+    toggle_button_set_text(elem, elem->bool_text[i]);
+
+    GtkRequisition *size = gtk_requisition_new();
+    gtk_widget_get_preferred_size(button, size, NULL);
+
+    if (size->width > max_width)
+      max_width = size->width;
+    if (size->height > max_height)
+      max_height = size->height;
+  }
+
+  // set the widget minimum size to the maximum label size so that the
+  // widget doesn't change size when the label changes
+  gtk_widget_set_size_request(button, max_width, max_height);
+
   toggle_button_updated(elem);
 
   return button;