diff --git a/Common/GmshSocket.h b/Common/GmshSocket.h
index 6bfa40a1d3d71b498b49f214e0cd67a7dfaaa50a..5b13db0ee4d05e8c25b8f8dbc5e02ad61bebb939 100644
--- a/Common/GmshSocket.h
+++ b/Common/GmshSocket.h
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class GmshSocket{
     int sofar = 0;
     int remaining = bytes;
     do {
-      ssize_t len = send(_sock, buf + sofar, remaining, 0); 
+      int len = send(_sock, buf + sofar, remaining, 0); 
       sofar += len;
       remaining -= len;
     } while(remaining > 0);