diff --git a/elfio/elfio_segment.hpp b/elfio/elfio_segment.hpp
index 02d752a90b01da058a4a460da3b4772f003ad339..249c6f3eca64badcc7db52d7d57d89526d217010 100644
--- a/elfio/elfio_segment.hpp
+++ b/elfio/elfio_segment.hpp
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ class segment_impl : public segment
             return sections[num];
         }
 
-        return -1;
+        return Elf_Half(-1);
     }
 
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------