diff --git a/src/client.rs b/src/client.rs
index b4bf59785..030513648 100644
--- a/src/client.rs
+++ b/src/client.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use std::os::raw::c_void;
 use std::ptr;
 use std::string::ToString;
 use std::time::Duration;
+use std::os::raw::c_char;
 
 use serde_json;
 
@@ -123,7 +124,7 @@ impl<C: ClientContext> Client<C> {
         unsafe { rdsys::rd_kafka_conf_set_error_cb(native_config.ptr(), Some(native_error_cb::<C>)) };
 
         let client_ptr = unsafe {
-            rdsys::rd_kafka_new(rd_kafka_type, native_config.ptr_move(), errstr.as_ptr() as *mut i8, errstr.len())
+            rdsys::rd_kafka_new(rd_kafka_type, native_config.ptr_move(), errstr.as_ptr() as *mut c_char, errstr.len())
         };
         trace!("Create new librdkafka client {:p}", client_ptr);
 
@@ -271,7 +272,7 @@ impl Drop for NativeTopic {
 
 pub(crate) unsafe extern "C" fn native_log_cb<C: ClientContext>(
         client: *const RDKafka, level: i32,
-        fac: *const i8, buf: *const i8) {
+        fac: *const c_char, buf: *const c_char) {
     let fac = CStr::from_ptr(fac).to_string_lossy();
     let log_message = CStr::from_ptr(buf).to_string_lossy();
 
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@ pub(crate) unsafe extern "C" fn native_log_cb<C: ClientContext>(
 }
 
 pub(crate) unsafe extern "C" fn native_stats_cb<C: ClientContext>(
-        _conf: *mut RDKafka, json: *mut i8, json_len: usize,
+        _conf: *mut RDKafka, json: *mut c_char, json_len: usize,
         opaque: *mut c_void) -> i32 {
     let context = Box::from_raw(opaque as *mut C);
 
@@ -302,7 +303,7 @@ pub(crate) unsafe extern "C" fn native_stats_cb<C: ClientContext>(
 }
 
 pub(crate) unsafe extern "C" fn native_error_cb<C: ClientContext>(
-        _client: *mut RDKafka, err: i32, reason: *const i8,
+        _client: *mut RDKafka, err: i32, reason: *const c_char,
         opaque: *mut c_void) {
     let err = rdsys::primitive_to_rd_kafka_resp_err_t(err)
         .expect("global error not an rd_kafka_resp_err_t");
diff --git a/src/config.rs b/src/config.rs
index 5c9c7743f..6ab2c0e08 100644
--- a/src/config.rs
+++ b/src/config.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ use crate::util::bytes_cstr_to_owned;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::ffi::CString;
 use std::mem;
+use std::os::raw::c_char;
 
 const ERR_LEN: usize = 256;
 
@@ -151,7 +152,7 @@ impl ClientConfig {
             let value_c = CString::new(value.to_string())?;
             let ret = unsafe {
                 rdsys::rd_kafka_conf_set(conf, key_c.as_ptr(), value_c.as_ptr(),
-                                           errstr.as_ptr() as *mut i8, errstr.len())
+                                           errstr.as_ptr() as *mut c_char, errstr.len())
             };
             if ret.is_error() {
                 let descr = unsafe { bytes_cstr_to_owned(&errstr) };
diff --git a/src/consumer/base_consumer.rs b/src/consumer/base_consumer.rs
index 101ef2bdc..f009745d3 100644
--- a/src/consumer/base_consumer.rs
+++ b/src/consumer/base_consumer.rs
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ impl<C: ConsumerContext> Consumer<C> for BaseConsumer<C> {
         }
         let ret_code = unsafe { rdsys::rd_kafka_subscribe(self.client.native_ptr(), tpl.ptr()) };
         if ret_code.is_error() {
-            let error = unsafe { cstr_to_owned(rdsys::rd_kafka_err2str(ret_code)) };
+            let error = unsafe { cstr_to_owned(rdsys::rd_kafka_err2str(ret_code) as *const i8) };
             return Err(KafkaError::Subscription(error));
         };
         Ok(())
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ impl<C: ConsumerContext> Consumer<C> for BaseConsumer<C> {
     fn assign(&self, assignment: &TopicPartitionList) -> KafkaResult<()> {
         let ret_code = unsafe { rdsys::rd_kafka_assign(self.client.native_ptr(), assignment.ptr()) };
         if ret_code.is_error() {
-            let error = unsafe { cstr_to_owned(rdsys::rd_kafka_err2str(ret_code)) };
+            let error = unsafe { cstr_to_owned(rdsys::rd_kafka_err2str(ret_code) as *const i8) };
             return Err(KafkaError::Subscription(error));
         };
         Ok(())
diff --git a/src/consumer/mod.rs b/src/consumer/mod.rs
index b9500778b..b3164e648 100644
--- a/src/consumer/mod.rs
+++ b/src/consumer/mod.rs
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ pub trait ConsumerContext: ClientContext {
             }
             RDKafkaRespErr::RD_KAFKA_RESP_ERR__REVOKE_PARTITIONS => Rebalance::Revoke,
             _ => {
-                let error = unsafe { cstr_to_owned(rdsys::rd_kafka_err2str(err)) };
+                let error = unsafe { cstr_to_owned(rdsys::rd_kafka_err2str(err) as *const i8) };
                 error!("Error rebalancing: {}", error);
                 Rebalance::Error(error)
             }
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index aa32a0a19..f3d86203e 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use std::os::raw::c_void;
 use std::ptr;
 use std::slice;
 use std::time::{Duration, SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};
+use std::os::raw::c_char;
 
 /// Return a tuple representing the version of `librdkafka` in
 /// hexadecimal and string format.
@@ -102,12 +103,12 @@ impl<T: Send + Sync> IntoOpaque for Box<T> {
 // TODO: check if the implementation returns a copy of the data and update the documentation
 /// Converts a byte array representing a C string into a String.
 pub unsafe fn bytes_cstr_to_owned(bytes_cstr: &[i8]) -> String {
-    CStr::from_ptr(bytes_cstr.as_ptr()).to_string_lossy().into_owned()
+    CStr::from_ptr(bytes_cstr.as_ptr() as *const c_char).to_string_lossy().into_owned()
 }
 
 /// Converts a C string into a String.
 pub unsafe fn cstr_to_owned(cstr: *const i8) -> String {
-    CStr::from_ptr(cstr).to_string_lossy().into_owned()
+    CStr::from_ptr(cstr as *const c_char).to_string_lossy().into_owned()
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]