diff --git a/tdecore/libintl.cpp b/tdecore/libintl.cpp
index 5d2f6a086..c7b8c7ee6 100644
--- a/tdecore/libintl.cpp
+++ b/tdecore/libintl.cpp
@@ -260,8 +260,8 @@ hash_string (const char *str_param)
   while (*str != '\0')
     {
       hval <<= 4;
-      hval += (unsigned long) *str++;
-      g = hval & ((unsigned long) 0xf << (HASHWORDBITS - 4));
+      hval += (unsigned char) *str++;
+      g = hval & ((unsigned long int) 0xf << (HASHWORDBITS - 4));
       if (g != 0)
 	{
 	  hval ^= g >> (HASHWORDBITS - 8);