diff --git a/src/XrdCms/XrdCmsLogin.cc b/src/XrdCms/XrdCmsLogin.cc
index 1d2acb1f965..51fdc14d3c6 100644
--- a/src/XrdCms/XrdCmsLogin.cc
+++ b/src/XrdCms/XrdCmsLogin.cc
@@ -272,7 +272,7 @@ int XrdCmsLogin::SendErrorBL(XrdLink *Link)
   
 int XrdCmsLogin::SendErrorBL(XrdLink *Link, char *rbuff, int rblen)
 {
-  CmsRRHdr Rsp = {0, kYR_try, CmsTryRequest::kYR_permtop, htons(rblen)};
+  CmsRRHdr Rsp = {0, kYR_try, CmsTryRequest::kYR_permtop, htons((unsigned short int)rblen)};
   struct iovec iov[2] = {{(char *)&Rsp, sizeof(Rsp)},
                                 {rbuff, static_cast<size_t>(rblen)}};
   char msgbuff[2048];