diff --git a/pdns/dnslabeltext.rl b/pdns/dnslabeltext.rl
index 87a5799672f6..27f435094dc2 100644
--- a/pdns/dnslabeltext.rl
+++ b/pdns/dnslabeltext.rl
@@ -108,11 +108,11 @@ DNSName::string_t segmentDNSNameRaw(const char* realinput, size_t inputlen)
         const char* eof = pe;
         int cs;
         char val = 0;
-        char labellen=0;
+        unsigned char labellen=0;
         unsigned int lenpos=0;
         %%{
                 action labelEnd { 
-                        if (labellen < 0 || labellen > 63) {
+                        if (labellen > 63) {
                           throw runtime_error("Unable to parse DNS name '"+string(realinput)+"': invalid label length "+std::to_string(labellen));
                         }
                         ret[lenpos]=labellen;
diff --git a/pdns/dnsname.cc b/pdns/dnsname.cc
index c2b48e9fd773..22e2cf9f5774 100644
--- a/pdns/dnsname.cc
+++ b/pdns/dnsname.cc
@@ -255,8 +255,8 @@ bool DNSName::isPartOf(const DNSName& parent) const
       }
       return true;
     }
-    if (*us < 0) {
-      throw std::out_of_range("negative label length in dnsname");
+    if (static_cast<uint8_t>(*us) > 63) {
+      throw std::out_of_range("illegal label length in dnsname");
     }
   }
   return false;