diff --git a/mythtv/programs/mythfilldatabase/xmltvparser.cpp b/mythtv/programs/mythfilldatabase/xmltvparser.cpp
index 4807a636d88..20230d2345c 100644
--- a/mythtv/programs/mythfilldatabase/xmltvparser.cpp
+++ b/mythtv/programs/mythfilldatabase/xmltvparser.cpp
@@ -30,22 +30,24 @@ XMLTVParser::XMLTVParser() : isJapan(false), current_year(0)
     current_year = QDate::currentDate().toString("yyyy").toUInt();
 }
 
-static unsigned int ELFHash(const char *s)
+static uint ELFHash(const QByteArray &ba)
 {
-    /* ELF hash uses unsigned chars and unsigned arithmetic for portability */
-    const unsigned char *name = (const unsigned char *)s;
-    unsigned long h = 0, g;
+    const uchar *k = (const uchar *)ba.data();
+    uint h = 0;
+    uint g;
 
-    while (*name)
+    if (k)
     {
-        h = (h << 4) + (unsigned long)(*name++);
-        if ((g = (h & 0xF0000000UL))!=0)
-            h ^= (g >> 24);
-        h &= ~g;
-
+        while (*k)
+        {
+            h = (h << 4) + *k++;
+            if ((g = (h & 0xf0000000)) != 0)
+                h ^= g >> 24;
+            h &= ~g;
+        }
     }
 
-    return (int)h;
+    return h;
 }
 
 static QString getFirstText(QDomElement element)
@@ -533,8 +535,7 @@ ProgInfo *XMLTVParser::parseProgram(
         programid.append(uniqueid);
     else
     {
-        QString seriesid = QString::number(ELFHash(pginfo->title.toUtf8()
-                                               .constData()));
+        QString seriesid = QString::number(ELFHash(pginfo->title.toUtf8()));
         pginfo->seriesId = seriesid;
         programid.append(seriesid);