diff --git a/libavcodec/qtrle.c b/libavcodec/qtrle.c
index c110272941e0a2dd04bd51d2f176c47aa875b4bd..29e777b31fd0426838b9f07b7adb763fa86d85e8 100644
--- a/libavcodec/qtrle.c
+++ b/libavcodec/qtrle.c
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ static void qtrle_decode_8bpp(QtrleContext *s)
     int header;
     int start_line;
     int lines_to_change;
-    signed char rle_code;
+    int rle_code;
     int row_ptr, pixel_ptr;
     int row_inc = s->frame.linesize[0];
     unsigned char pi1, pi2, pi3, pi4;  /* 4 palette indices */