diff --git a/include/wx/filefn.h b/include/wx/filefn.h
index e975ee0022..fe019f9de0 100644
--- a/include/wx/filefn.h
+++ b/include/wx/filefn.h
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ inline int wxOpen(const wxString& path, int flags, mode_t mode)
     { return wxCRT_Open(path.fn_str(), flags, mode); }
 
 #if defined(wxHAS_NATIVE_READLINK)
-inline int wxReadlink(const wxString& path, char* buf, int size)
+inline ssize_t wxReadlink(const wxString& path, char* buf, int size)
     { return wxCRT_Readlink(path.fn_str(), buf, size); }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/common/filename.cpp b/src/common/filename.cpp
index d10ae513c2..e5e9ec39ca 100644
--- a/src/common/filename.cpp
+++ b/src/common/filename.cpp
@@ -1698,7 +1698,7 @@ wxFileName wxFileName::ResolveLink()
         bufSize = st.st_size + 1;
 
     char buf[bufSize];
-    int result = wxReadlink(link, buf, bufSize - 1);
+    ssize_t result = wxReadlink(link, buf, bufSize - 1);
 
     if ( result != -1 )
     {