diff --git a/lib/vhost/virtio_net.c b/lib/vhost/virtio_net.c
index 8e36f4c340..9137a9923b 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/virtio_net.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/virtio_net.c
@@ -1474,7 +1474,7 @@ static __rte_always_inline void
 store_dma_desc_info_split(struct vring_used_elem *s_ring, struct vring_used_elem *d_ring,
 		uint16_t ring_size, uint16_t s_idx, uint16_t d_idx, uint16_t count)
 {
-	uint16_t elem_size = sizeof(struct vring_used_elem);
+	size_t elem_size = sizeof(struct vring_used_elem);
 
 	if (d_idx + count <= ring_size) {
 		rte_memcpy(d_ring + d_idx, s_ring + s_idx, count * elem_size);