diff --git a/init/util.cpp b/init/util.cpp
index bddc3b210..4d36dfd0a 100644
--- a/init/util.cpp
+++ b/init/util.cpp
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ void make_link_init(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath)
 {
     int ret;
     char buf[256];
-    char *slash;
+    const char *slash;
     int width;
 
     slash = strrchr(newpath, '/');