diff --git a/buf/buf.h b/buf/buf.h
index 40c5735..94b515c 100644
--- a/buf/buf.h
+++ b/buf/buf.h
@@ -7,6 +7,6 @@ void buf_append_i32(uint8_t *buf, int32_t value, size_t *index);
 void buf_append_f32(uint8_t *buf, float value, size_t *index);
 
 uint8_t buf_read_u8(const uint8_t *buf, size_t *index);
-uint8_t buf_read_i16(const uint8_t *buf, size_t *index);
+int16_t buf_read_i16(const uint8_t *buf, size_t *index);
 int32_t buf_read_i32(const uint8_t *buf, size_t *index);
 float buf_read_f32(const uint8_t *buf, size_t *index);