1 files changed, 4 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/libbb/compare_string_array.c b/libbb/compare_string_array.c
index 8961e003e..fc077b309 100644
--- a/libbb/compare_string_array.c
+++ b/libbb/compare_string_array.c
@@ -17,16 +17,16 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 /* returns the array number of the string */
-extern unsigned short 
+extern int 
 compare_string_array(const char * const string_array[], const char *key)
 {
-        unsigned short i;
+        int i;
 
         for (i = 0; string_array[i] != 0; i++) {
                 if (strcmp(string_array[i], key) == 0) {
-                        break;
+                        return i;
                 }
         }
-        return(i);
+        return -i;
 }