diff --git a/include/net/netlink.h b/include/net/netlink.h
index a34f53acb6d62b8339ceb7da703823dd10dafc7c..d3938f11ae52ee234ea0b4c4e3f7b2e37615601d 100644
--- a/include/net/netlink.h
+++ b/include/net/netlink.h
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ static inline int nla_ok(const struct nlattr *nla, int remaining)
  */
 static inline struct nlattr *nla_next(const struct nlattr *nla, int *remaining)
 {
-	int totlen = NLA_ALIGN(nla->nla_len);
+	unsigned int totlen = NLA_ALIGN(nla->nla_len);
 
 	*remaining -= totlen;
 	return (struct nlattr *) ((char *) nla + totlen);