diff --git a/apps/talk.h b/apps/talk.h
index b4aa344916..d5f3bb2996 100644
--- a/apps/talk.h
+++ b/apps/talk.h
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ enum talk_status {
 
 /* make a "talkable" ID from number + unit
    unit is upper 4 bits, number the remaining (in regular 2's complement) */
-#define TALK_ID(n,u) (((long)(u))<<UNIT_SHIFT | ((n) & ~(-1L<<DECIMAL_SHIFT)))
+#define TALK_ID(n,u) (((long)(u))<<UNIT_SHIFT | ((n) & ~(((unsigned int)-1L)<<DECIMAL_SHIFT)))
 
 /* make a "talkable" ID from a decimal number + unit, the decimal number
    is represented like x*10^d where d is the number of decimal digits */
 #define TALK_ID_DECIMAL(n,d,u) (((long)(u))<<UNIT_SHIFT |\
                              ((long)(d))<<DECIMAL_SHIFT |\
-                             ((n) & ~(-1L<<DECIMAL_SHIFT)))
+                             ((n) & ~(((unsigned int)-1L)<<DECIMAL_SHIFT)))
 
 /* convenience macro to have both virtual pointer and ID as arguments */
 #define STR(id) ID2P(id), id