diff --git a/src/sbbs3/putmsg.cpp b/src/sbbs3/putmsg.cpp
index e24bdc636640447d5204e8eaaeb76ad95691b9b1..3d6ce98810cd8f62a100be8f9b4cdbc468dac366 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/putmsg.cpp
+++ b/src/sbbs3/putmsg.cpp
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ char sbbs_t::putmsgfrag(const char* buf, long& mode, long org_cols, JSObject* ob
 			if(mode&P_PETSCII) {
 				if(term&PETSCII) {
 					outcom(str[l]);
-					switch(str[l]) {
+					switch((uchar)str[l]) {
 						case '\r':	// PETSCII "Return" / new-line
 							column = 0;
 							/* fall-through */