diff --git a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
index 98b81fef6e2..362618fb6dd 100644
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
@@ -1414,7 +1414,8 @@ PyCursesWindow_InsCh(PyCursesWindowObject *self, PyObject *args)
 static PyObject *
 PyCursesWindow_InCh(PyCursesWindowObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
-    int x, y, rtn;
+    int x, y;
+    unsigned long rtn;
 
     switch (PyTuple_Size(args)) {
     case 0:
@@ -1429,7 +1430,7 @@ PyCursesWindow_InCh(PyCursesWindowObject *self, PyObject *args)
         PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "inch requires 0 or 2 arguments");
         return NULL;
     }
-    return PyLong_FromLong((long) rtn);
+    return PyLong_FromUnsignedLong(rtn);
 }
 
 static PyObject *