diff --git a/libavcodec/utvideoenc.c b/libavcodec/utvideoenc.c
index db00e1eff5..476cf3819b 100644
--- a/libavcodec/utvideoenc.c
+++ b/libavcodec/utvideoenc.c
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ FF_ENABLE_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS
      * - Compression mode (none/huff)
      * And write the flags.
      */
-    c->flags  = (c->slices - 1) << 24;
+    c->flags  = (c->slices - 1U) << 24;
     c->flags |= 0 << 11; // bit field to signal interlaced encoding mode
     c->flags |= c->compression;