diff --git a/lib/bdev/bdev.c b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
index 7b17753ac..9cbcd9373 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/bdev.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
@@ -1817,8 +1817,8 @@ spdk_bdev_io_complete(struct spdk_bdev_io *bdev_io, enum spdk_bdev_io_status sta
 			 *  NOMEM_THRESHOLD_COUNT I/O to complete but for low queue
 			 *  depth channels we will instead wait for half to complete.
 			 */
-			bdev_ch->nomem_threshold = spdk_max(bdev_ch->io_outstanding / 2,
-							    bdev_ch->io_outstanding - NOMEM_THRESHOLD_COUNT);
+			bdev_ch->nomem_threshold = spdk_max((int64_t)bdev_ch->io_outstanding / 2,
+							    (int64_t)bdev_ch->io_outstanding - NOMEM_THRESHOLD_COUNT);
 			return;
 		}
 	}