diff --git a/src/backend/dbi/gnc-backend-dbi.hpp b/src/backend/dbi/gnc-backend-dbi.hpp
index cf1b1abae2..66c87320aa 100644
--- a/src/backend/dbi/gnc-backend-dbi.hpp
+++ b/src/backend/dbi/gnc-backend-dbi.hpp
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public:
         GncSqlBackend(conn, book, format), m_exists{false} {}
     bool connected() const noexcept { return m_conn != nullptr; }
     /** FIXME: Just a pass-through to m_conn: */
-    void set_error(int error, int repeat,  bool retry) noexcept
+    void set_error(int error, unsigned int repeat,  bool retry) noexcept
     {
         m_conn->set_error(error, repeat, retry);
     }
diff --git a/src/backend/dbi/gnc-dbisqlconnection.hpp b/src/backend/dbi/gnc-dbisqlconnection.hpp
index b97520fbc5..fd332948b2 100644
--- a/src/backend/dbi/gnc-dbisqlconnection.hpp
+++ b/src/backend/dbi/gnc-dbisqlconnection.hpp
@@ -58,7 +58,8 @@ public:
         return dbi_conn_error(m_conn, nullptr); }
     QofBackend* qbe () const noexcept { return m_qbe; }
     dbi_conn conn() const noexcept { return m_conn; }
-    inline void set_error(int error, int repeat,  bool retry) noexcept override
+    inline void set_error(int error, unsigned int repeat,
+			  bool retry) noexcept override
     {
         m_last_error = error;
         m_error_repeat = repeat;
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ private:
      * the original call is allowed. error_repeat tracks the number of attempts
      * and can be used to prevent infinite loops.
      */
-    int m_error_repeat;
+    unsigned int m_error_repeat;
     /** Signals the calling function that it should retry (the error handler
      * detected transient error and managed to resolve it, but it can't run the
      * original query)
diff --git a/src/backend/sql/gnc-backend-sql.h b/src/backend/sql/gnc-backend-sql.h
index cdf72fc9a8..c2c891bd18 100644
--- a/src/backend/sql/gnc-backend-sql.h
+++ b/src/backend/sql/gnc-backend-sql.h
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ public:
      * If not 0 will normally be meaningless outside of implementation code.
      */
     virtual int dberror() const noexcept = 0;
-    virtual void set_error(int error, int repeat,  bool retry) noexcept = 0;
+    virtual void set_error(int error, unsigned int repeat,  bool retry) noexcept = 0;
     virtual bool verify() noexcept = 0;
     virtual bool retry_connection(const char* msg) noexcept = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/backend/sql/test/utest-gnc-backend-sql.cpp b/src/backend/sql/test/utest-gnc-backend-sql.cpp
index f2922c1812..f968a91e2f 100644
--- a/src/backend/sql/test/utest-gnc-backend-sql.cpp
+++ b/src/backend/sql/test/utest-gnc-backend-sql.cpp
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public:
     virtual std::string quote_string (const std::string& str)
         const noexcept override { return std::string{str}; }
     int dberror() const noexcept override { return 0; }
-    void set_error(int error, int repeat, bool retry) noexcept override { return; }
+    void set_error(int error, unsigned int repeat, bool retry) noexcept override { return; }
     bool verify() noexcept override { return true; }
     bool retry_connection(const char* msg) noexcept override { return true; }
 private: