diff --git a/ext/pcntl/php_pcntl.h b/ext/pcntl/php_pcntl.h
index f2cc0d59195f..3757c7d9219e 100644
--- a/ext/pcntl/php_pcntl.h
+++ b/ext/pcntl/php_pcntl.h
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ ZEND_BEGIN_MODULE_GLOBALS(pcntl)
 	bool processing_signal_queue;
 	volatile bool pending_signals;
 	bool async_signals;
-	uint8_t num_signals;
+	/* some OSes define NSIG to be > UINT8_MAX */
+	uint16_t num_signals;
 	int last_error;
 	struct php_pcntl_pending_signal *head, *tail, *spares;
 ZEND_END_MODULE_GLOBALS(pcntl)