diff --git a/contrib/bc/FREEBSD-upgrade b/contrib/bc/FREEBSD-upgrade
index 2c92408b1989..c45ee4b826c9 100644
--- a/contrib/bc/FREEBSD-upgrade
+++ b/contrib/bc/FREEBSD-upgrade
@@ -9,3 +9,5 @@ bc 1.0.4
 	tar xvzf bc-1.0.4.tar.gz
 	cd bc-1.0.4
 	cvs import src/contrib/bc BC bc1_0_4
+
+	applied patch (PR 12550)
diff --git a/contrib/bc/bc/scan.l b/contrib/bc/bc/scan.l
index 8b5b25dc142c..78a145bfe240 100644
--- a/contrib/bc/bc/scan.l
+++ b/contrib/bc/bc/scan.l
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ _PROTOTYPE(int yywrap, (void));
 /* Variables to help interface readline with bc. */
 static char *rl_line = (char *)NULL;
 static char *rl_start = (char *)NULL;
-static char  rl_len = 0;
+static int   rl_len = 0;
 
 /* Definitions for readline access. */
 extern FILE *rl_instream;