diff --git a/src/iperf.h b/src/iperf.h
index 80581e5..9634f62 100644
--- a/src/iperf.h
+++ b/src/iperf.h
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ struct iperf_test
     int       sender;                           /* client & !reverse or server & reverse */
     int       sender_has_retransmits;
     struct protocol *protocol;
-    char      state;
+    signed char state;
     char     *server_hostname;                  /* -c option */
     char     *bind_address;                     /* -B option */
     int       server_port;
diff --git a/src/iperf_api.c b/src/iperf_api.c
index c361dec..3f0b63f 100644
--- a/src/iperf_api.c
+++ b/src/iperf_api.c
@@ -1206,7 +1206,7 @@ JSON_read(int fd)
 
     if (Nread(fd, (char*) &nsize, sizeof(nsize), Ptcp) >= 0) {
 	hsize = ntohl(nsize);
-	str = (char *) malloc((hsize+1) * sizeof(char));	/* +1 for EOS */
+	str = (char *) malloc(hsize+1);	/* +1 for EOS */
 	if (str != NULL) {
 	    if (Nread(fd, str, hsize, Ptcp) >= 0) {
 		str[hsize] = '\0';	/* add the EOS */
diff --git a/src/iperf_client_api.c b/src/iperf_client_api.c
index fd76ae2..b7ec673 100644
--- a/src/iperf_client_api.c
+++ b/src/iperf_client_api.c
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ iperf_handle_message_client(struct iperf_test *test)
 {
     int rval, perr;
 
-    if ((rval = read(test->ctrl_sck, &test->state, sizeof(char))) <= 0) {
+    if ((rval = read(test->ctrl_sck, (char*) &test->state, sizeof(signed char))) <= 0) {
         if (rval == 0) {
             i_errno = IECTRLCLOSE;
             return -1;
diff --git a/src/iperf_server_api.c b/src/iperf_server_api.c
index 9103937..b86f6a8 100644
--- a/src/iperf_server_api.c
+++ b/src/iperf_server_api.c
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ iperf_handle_message_server(struct iperf_test *test)
     struct iperf_stream *sp;
 
     // XXX: Need to rethink how this behaves to fit API
-    if ((rval = Nread(test->ctrl_sck, &test->state, sizeof(char), Ptcp)) <= 0) {
+    if ((rval = Nread(test->ctrl_sck, (char*) &test->state, sizeof(signed char), Ptcp)) <= 0) {
         if (rval == 0) {
 	    iperf_err(test, "the client has unexpectedly closed the connection");
             i_errno = IECTRLCLOSE;
diff --git a/src/iperf_tcp.c b/src/iperf_tcp.c
index b47ebda..1bbc248 100644
--- a/src/iperf_tcp.c
+++ b/src/iperf_tcp.c
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ int
 iperf_tcp_accept(struct iperf_test * test)
 {
     int     s;
-    int     rbuf = ACCESS_DENIED;
+    signed char rbuf = ACCESS_DENIED;
     char    cookie[COOKIE_SIZE];
     socklen_t len;
     struct sockaddr_storage addr;
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ iperf_tcp_accept(struct iperf_test * test)
     }
 
     if (strcmp(test->cookie, cookie) != 0) {
-        if (Nwrite(s, (char*) &rbuf, sizeof(char), Ptcp) < 0) {
+        if (Nwrite(s, (char*) &rbuf, sizeof(signed char), Ptcp) < 0) {
             i_errno = IESENDMESSAGE;
             return -1;
         }
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 4629d02..09d0904 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     if (setjmp(env)) {
         if (test->ctrl_sck >= 0) {
             test->state = (test->role == 'c') ? CLIENT_TERMINATE : SERVER_TERMINATE;
-            if (Nwrite(test->ctrl_sck, &test->state, sizeof(char), Ptcp) < 0) {
+            if (Nwrite(test->ctrl_sck, (char*) &test->state, sizeof(signed char), Ptcp) < 0) {
                 i_errno = IESENDMESSAGE;
                 return -1;
             }