diff --git a/commandline.c b/commandline.c
index faff07bd..c50b244b 100644
--- a/commandline.c
+++ b/commandline.c
@@ -121,9 +121,9 @@ static int app_echo(const struct cli_parsed *parsed, struct cli_context *context
     const char *arg = parsed->args[i];
     DEBUGF(verbose, "echo:argv[%d]=\"%s\"", i, arg);
     if (escapes) {
-      unsigned char buf[strlen(arg)];
+      char buf[strlen(arg)];
       size_t len = strn_fromprint(buf, sizeof buf, arg, 0, '\0', NULL);
-      cli_write(context, (char *)buf, len);
+      cli_write(context, buf, len);
     } else
       cli_puts(context, arg);
     cli_delim(context, NULL);
diff --git a/keyring.c b/keyring.c
index 2b568339..1e348290 100644
--- a/keyring.c
+++ b/keyring.c
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ static int load_did_name(keypair *kp, const char *text)
 	return WHY("duplicate DID");
       const char *e = NULL;
       bzero(kp->private_key, kp->private_key_len);
-      strn_fromprint(kp->private_key, kp->private_key_len, t, 0, '"', &e);
+      strn_fromprint((char *)kp->private_key, kp->private_key_len, t, 0, '"', &e);
       if (*e != '"')
 	return WHY("malformed DID quoted string");
       t = e + 1;
@@ -754,7 +754,7 @@ static int load_did_name(keypair *kp, const char *text)
 	return WHY("duplicate Name");
       const char *e = NULL;
       bzero(kp->public_key, kp->public_key_len);
-      strn_fromprint(kp->public_key, kp->public_key_len, t, 0, '"', &e);
+      strn_fromprint((char *)kp->public_key, kp->public_key_len, t, 0, '"', &e);
       if (*e != '"')
 	return WHY("malformed Name quoted string");
       t = e + 1;
diff --git a/str.c b/str.c
index ed9e42a2..1ce54094 100644
--- a/str.c
+++ b/str.c
@@ -521,10 +521,10 @@ size_t toprint_str_len(const char *srcStr, const char quotes[2])
   return srcStr ? strbuf_count(strbuf_toprint_quoted(strbuf_local(NULL, 0), quotes, srcStr)) : 4;
 }
 
-size_t strn_fromprint(unsigned char *dst, size_t dstsiz, const char *src, size_t srclen, char endquote, const char **afterp)
+size_t strn_fromprint(char *dst, size_t dstsiz, const char *src, size_t srclen, char endquote, const char **afterp)
 {
-  unsigned char *const odst = dst;
-  unsigned char *const edst = dst + dstsiz;
+  char *const odst = dst;
+  char *const edst = dst + dstsiz;
   const char *const esrc = srclen ? src + srclen : NULL;
   while ((src < esrc || !esrc) && *src && *src != endquote && dst < edst) {
     switch (*src) {
diff --git a/str.h b/str.h
index e85bb164..2dc521d0 100644
--- a/str.h
+++ b/str.h
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ char *toprint(char *dstStr, ssize_t dstBufSiz, const char *srcBuf, size_t srcByt
 char *toprint_str(char *dstStr, ssize_t dstBufSiz, const char *srcStr, const char quotes[2]);
 size_t toprint_len(const char *srcBuf, size_t srcBytes, const char quotes[2]);
 size_t toprint_str_len(const char *srcStr, const char quotes[2]);
-size_t strn_fromprint(unsigned char *dst, size_t dstsiz, const char *src, size_t srclen, char endquote, const char **afterp);
+size_t strn_fromprint(char *dst, size_t dstsiz, const char *src, size_t srclen, char endquote, const char **afterp);
 
 #define alloca_toprint_quoted(dstsiz,buf,len,quotes)  toprint((char *)alloca((dstsiz) == -1 ? toprint_len((const char *)(buf),(len), (quotes)) + 1 : (size_t)(dstsiz)), (size_t)(dstsiz), (const char *)(buf), (len), (quotes))
 #define alloca_toprint(dstsiz,buf,len)  alloca_toprint_quoted(dstsiz,buf,len,"``")