diff --git a/utils/frame.c b/utils/frame.c
index bd83bc57ed..7fdb1637db 100755
--- a/utils/frame.c
+++ b/utils/frame.c
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #include "frame.h"
 
 time_t stopwatch;       /* will hold time at start of calculation */
-unsigned int samplefrequency;
+int samplefrequency;
 unsigned short samplewidth;
 unsigned short channels;
 int wavout;            /* TRUE iff out file should be a .WAV file */
diff --git a/utils/frame.h b/utils/frame.h
index 6f5dd30434..a07c605ecb 100755
--- a/utils/frame.h
+++ b/utils/frame.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
  #define TRUE (0==0)
 #endif
 
-extern unsigned int samplefrequency;
+extern int samplefrequency;
 extern unsigned short samplewidth;
 extern unsigned short channels;
 extern int wavout;         /* TRUE iff out file is .WAV file */