diff --git a/src/lib/core/popen.c b/src/lib/core/popen.c
index 2f27b49a29145d61ac18bfdedda307fbdfa7dacb..1cfe58ee0a362cba4647686733f05ce2fc317ef2 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/popen.c
+++ b/src/lib/core/popen.c
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ get_envp(struct popen_opts *opts)
 		if (!said)
 			say_warn("popen: Environment inheritance "
 				 "unsupported, passing empty");
-		return (char *)empty_envp;
+		return (char **)empty_envp;
 #endif
 	}
 	return opts->env;