diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index 302a8a09c..38bc5fc45 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ protected:
         rec->is_constructor = !strcmp(rec->name, "__init__") || !strcmp(rec->name, "__setstate__");
         rec->has_args = false;
         rec->has_kwargs = false;
-        rec->nargs = args;
+        rec->nargs = (uint16_t) args;
 
 #if PY_MAJOR_VERSION < 3
         if (rec->sibling && PyMethod_Check(rec->sibling.ptr()))