diff --git a/libres_internal.h b/libres_internal.h
index 57bd540..6308685 100644
--- a/libres_internal.h
+++ b/libres_internal.h
@@ -68,13 +68,13 @@ struct __attribute__ ((__packed__)) RfMap {
 struct __attribute__ ((__packed__)) RfTypeEntry {
     // resource type entry
     uint32_t        type;   // resource type
-    uint16_t        count;  // number of resources minus one
+    int16_t         count;  // number of resources minus one
     uint16_t        offset; // offset to ref list from type list 
 };
 
 struct __attribute__ ((__packed__)) RfTypeList {
     // resource type list
-    uint16_t            count;  // minus one
+    int16_t             count;  // minus one
     struct RfTypeEntry  entry[];
 };
 
diff --git a/res.c b/res.c
index 6ca5bdf..e347bd1 100644
--- a/res.c
+++ b/res.c
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ RFILE* res_load (RFILE *rp) {
     uint8_t *names = ((void*)map)+ntohs(map->nameListOffset);
     
     // read types
-    rp->numTypes = 1+ntohs(types->count);
+    rp->numTypes = 1+(int16_t)ntohs(types->count);
     rp->types = calloc(rp->numTypes, sizeof(struct RmType));
     if (rp->types == NULL) egoto(ENOMEM, error);
     bzero(rp->types, sizeof(struct RmType) * rp->numTypes);