diff --git a/glib/gpattern.c b/glib/gpattern.c
index b12afdbb7..7d85f05d1 100644
--- a/glib/gpattern.c
+++ b/glib/gpattern.c
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ g_pattern_spec_new (const gchar *pattern)
   size_t hw_pos = 0, tw_pos = 0, hj_pos = 0, tj_pos = 0;
   gboolean hw_pos_set = FALSE, hj_pos_set = FALSE;
   gboolean follows_wildcard = FALSE;
-  guint pending_jokers = 0;
+  size_t pending_jokers = 0;
   const gchar *s;
   gchar *d;
   size_t i;
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ g_pattern_spec_new (const gchar *pattern)
   seen_wildcard = hw_pos_set;
   more_wildcards = seen_wildcard && hw_pos != tw_pos;
   if (seen_wildcard)
-    pspec->max_length = G_MAXUINT;
+    pspec->max_length = G_MAXSIZE;
 
   /* special case sole head/tail wildcard or exact matches */
   if (!seen_joker && !more_wildcards)