diff --git a/cmake/corsika.hpp.in b/cmake/corsika.hpp.in
index a222039800b0f9b257cdf2f96f58b6216f821afa..3f683d93607a2e7e9c0138f86290ff0964991be0 100644
--- a/cmake/corsika.hpp.in
+++ b/cmake/corsika.hpp.in
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ namespace corsika {
    *  The value of \p CORSIKA_PATCH_NUMBER encodes the
    *  patch number of the CORSIKA library.
    */
-  static std::string const CORSIKA_PATCH_NUMBER = @PROJECT_VERSION_TWEAK@;
+  static unsigned int const CORSIKA_PATCH_NUMBER = @PROJECT_VERSION_TWEAK@;
 
   /**
    *