diff --git a/lib/socks.c b/lib/socks.c
index 13b7caa36400e0fa992b1173167bbfd544343f7a..dc159ad38877bd7c2dd9dad75ceee6a7e37f8cbb 100644
--- a/lib/socks.c
+++ b/lib/socks.c
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ CURLcode Curl_SOCKS5(const char *proxy_name,
   socksreq[2] = 0; /* must be zero */
 
   if(!socks5_resolve_local) {
-    packetsize = 5 + hostname_len + 2;
+    packetsize = (ssize_t)(5 + hostname_len + 2);
 
     socksreq[3] = 3; /* ATYP: domain name = 3 */
     socksreq[4] = (char) hostname_len; /* address length */