diff --git a/xmlsave.c b/xmlsave.c
index 7158c26b..b06e24d9 100644
--- a/xmlsave.c
+++ b/xmlsave.c
@@ -2187,7 +2187,7 @@ xmlNodeDump(xmlBufferPtr buf, xmlDocPtr doc, xmlNodePtr cur, int level,
             int format)
 {
     xmlBufPtr buffer;
-    int ret;
+    size_t ret;
 
     if ((buf == NULL) || (cur == NULL))
         return(-1);