diff --git a/src/message.c b/src/message.c
index e0971b6..d25d485 100644
--- a/src/message.c
+++ b/src/message.c
@@ -4167,8 +4167,8 @@
 		    {
 			/* memchr on HP does not like n > 2^31  !!! */
 			char *q = memchr(str_arg, '\0',
-				precision <= 0x7fffffff ? precision
-								: 0x7fffffff);
+				precision <= (size_t)0x7fffffffL ? precision
+						       : (size_t)0x7fffffffL);
 			str_arg_l = (q == NULL) ? precision : q - str_arg;
 		    }
 		    break;