diff --git a/include/io/channel-buffer.h b/include/io/channel-buffer.h
index 91a52b3373..65c498b2c2 100644
--- a/include/io/channel-buffer.h
+++ b/include/io/channel-buffer.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ struct QIOChannelBuffer {
     size_t capacity; /* Total allocated memory */
     size_t usage;    /* Current size of data */
     size_t offset;   /* Offset for future I/O ops */
-    char *data;
+    uint8_t *data;
 };
 
 
diff --git a/io/channel-buffer.c b/io/channel-buffer.c
index 0f7c5671fe..3e5117bf28 100644
--- a/io/channel-buffer.c
+++ b/io/channel-buffer.c
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ qio_channel_buffer_new(size_t capacity)
     ioc = QIO_CHANNEL_BUFFER(object_new(TYPE_QIO_CHANNEL_BUFFER));
 
     if (capacity) {
-        ioc->data = g_new0(char, capacity);
+        ioc->data = g_new0(uint8_t, capacity);
         ioc->capacity = capacity;
     }