diff --git a/inc/timeout.h b/inc/timeout.h
index 46ffc4e..16ae104 100644
--- a/inc/timeout.h
+++ b/inc/timeout.h
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ extern jmp_buf jmpbuf;
 /*** TIMEOUT_TIME is changeable by UNIX env var LDEFILETIMEOUT. 
 #define	TIMEOUT_TIME	10 **/
 
-extern	int	TIMEOUT_TIME;
+extern	unsigned int TIMEOUT_TIME;
 
 #define	SETJMP(x)	\
   {				\
diff --git a/src/timer.c b/src/timer.c
index a9c8ba7..dfa4078 100644
--- a/src/timer.c
+++ b/src/timer.c
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ extern DspInterface currentdsp;
  *	to get Alto time.
  */
 
-int TIMEOUT_TIME = 10; /* For file system timeout, seconds, default 10 */
+unsigned int TIMEOUT_TIME = 10; /* For file system timeout, seconds, default 10 */
 
 volatile sig_atomic_t IO_Signalled = FALSE;