diff --git a/trace/simple.c b/trace/simple.c
index ce17d64bd7..ccbdb6a930 100644
--- a/trace/simple.c
+++ b/trace/simple.c
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ enum {
 uint8_t trace_buf[TRACE_BUF_LEN];
 static unsigned int trace_idx;
 static unsigned int writeout_idx;
-static uint64_t dropped_events;
+static int dropped_events;
 static FILE *trace_fp;
 static char *trace_file_name;
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ typedef struct {
     uint64_t timestamp_ns;
     uint32_t length;   /*    in bytes */
     uint32_t reserved; /*    unused */
-    uint8_t arguments[];
+    uint64_t arguments[];
 } TraceRecord;
 
 typedef struct {
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ static gpointer writeout_thread(gpointer opaque)
         uint8_t bytes[sizeof(TraceRecord) + sizeof(uint64_t)];
     } dropped;
     unsigned int idx = 0;
-    uint64_t dropped_count;
+    int dropped_count;
     size_t unused __attribute__ ((unused));
 
     for (;;) {
@@ -169,16 +169,16 @@ static gpointer writeout_thread(gpointer opaque)
         if (dropped_events) {
             dropped.rec.event = DROPPED_EVENT_ID,
             dropped.rec.timestamp_ns = get_clock();
-            dropped.rec.length = sizeof(TraceRecord) + sizeof(dropped_events),
+            dropped.rec.length = sizeof(TraceRecord) + sizeof(uint64_t),
             dropped.rec.reserved = 0;
             while (1) {
                 dropped_count = dropped_events;
-                if (g_atomic_int_compare_and_exchange((gint *)&dropped_events,
+                if (g_atomic_int_compare_and_exchange(&dropped_events,
                                                       dropped_count, 0)) {
                     break;
                 }
             }
-            memcpy(dropped.rec.arguments, &dropped_count, sizeof(uint64_t));
+            dropped.rec.arguments[0] = dropped_count;
             unused = fwrite(&dropped.rec, dropped.rec.length, 1, trace_fp);
         }
 
@@ -220,11 +220,11 @@ int trace_record_start(TraceBufferRecord *rec, TraceEventID event, size_t datasi
 
         if (new_idx - writeout_idx > TRACE_BUF_LEN) {
             /* Trace Buffer Full, Event dropped ! */
-            g_atomic_int_inc((gint *)&dropped_events);
+            g_atomic_int_inc(&dropped_events);
             return -ENOSPC;
         }
 
-        if (g_atomic_int_compare_and_exchange((gint *)&trace_idx,
+        if (g_atomic_int_compare_and_exchange(&trace_idx,
                                               old_idx, new_idx)) {
             break;
         }