diff --git a/arch/alpha/boot/tools/objstrip.c b/arch/alpha/boot/tools/objstrip.c
index 96154e768a20..ef1838230291 100644
--- a/arch/alpha/boot/tools/objstrip.c
+++ b/arch/alpha/boot/tools/objstrip.c
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 #ifdef __ELF__
     elf = (struct elfhdr *) buf;
 
-    if (elf->e_ident[0] == 0x7f && strncmp(elf->e_ident + 1, "ELF", 3) == 0) {
+    if (elf->e_ident[0] == 0x7f && strncmp((char *)elf->e_ident + 1, "ELF", 3) == 0) {
 	if (elf->e_type != ET_EXEC) {
 	    fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s is not an ELF executable\n",
 		    prog_name, inname);