diff --git a/qmanager/modules/qmanager.cpp b/qmanager/modules/qmanager.cpp
index 64f1115b3..54ee5454a 100644
--- a/qmanager/modules/qmanager.cpp
+++ b/qmanager/modules/qmanager.cpp
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ static int handshake_jobmanager (std::shared_ptr<qmanager_ctx_t> &ctx)
 
 static void status_request_cb (flux_t *h, flux_msg_handler_t *w, const flux_msg_t *msg, void *arg)
 {
-    int len = 0;
+    size_t len = 0;
     const char *payload;
     flux_future_t *f = NULL;
 
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ static void feasibility_request_cb (flux_t *h,
                                     const flux_msg_t *msg,
                                     void *arg)
 {
-    int size = 0;
+    size_t size = 0;
     flux_future_t *f = nullptr;
     const char *data = nullptr;