diff --git a/sound/isa/wavefront/wavefront_synth.c b/sound/isa/wavefront/wavefront_synth.c
index bd679e2da154..9eaab9ca4f95 100644
--- a/sound/isa/wavefront/wavefront_synth.c
+++ b/sound/isa/wavefront/wavefront_synth.c
@@ -950,9 +950,9 @@ wavefront_send_sample (snd_wavefront_t *dev,
 	if (header->size) {
 		dev->freemem = wavefront_freemem (dev);
 
-		if (dev->freemem < (int)header->size) {
+		if (dev->freemem < 0 || dev->freemem < header->size) {
 			dev_err(dev->card->dev,
-				"insufficient memory to load %d byte sample.\n",
+				"insufficient memory to load %u byte sample.\n",
 				header->size);
 			return -ENOMEM;
 		}