diff --git a/src/network/utils/mac48-address.cc b/src/network/utils/mac48-address.cc
index f3de6b4cf..d67074e5a 100644
--- a/src/network/utils/mac48-address.cc
+++ b/src/network/utils/mac48-address.cc
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ AsInt (std::string v)
   NS_LOG_FUNCTION (v);
   std::istringstream iss;
   iss.str (v);
-  uint32_t retval;
+  uint8_t retval;
   iss >> std::hex >> retval >> std::dec;
   return retval;
 }