diff --git a/fs/jffs2/gc.c b/fs/jffs2/gc.c
index 090c556ffed..3b6f2fa12cf 100644
--- a/fs/jffs2/gc.c
+++ b/fs/jffs2/gc.c
@@ -700,7 +700,8 @@ static int jffs2_garbage_collect_metadata(struct jffs2_sb_info *c, struct jffs2_
 	struct jffs2_raw_inode ri;
 	struct jffs2_node_frag *last_frag;
 	union jffs2_device_node dev;
-	char *mdata = NULL, mdatalen = 0;
+	char *mdata = NULL;
+	int mdatalen = 0;
 	uint32_t alloclen, ilen;
 	int ret;