diff --git a/src/genl.c b/src/genl.c
index f534221..5d8b9af 100644
--- a/src/genl.c
+++ b/src/genl.c
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ genl_nlmsg_build_lookup(char *buf, const char *subsys_name)
 	genl->cmd = CTRL_CMD_GETFAMILY;
 	genl->version = 1;
 
-	mnl_attr_put_u32(nlh, CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_ID, GENL_ID_CTRL);
+	mnl_attr_put_u16(nlh, CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_ID, GENL_ID_CTRL);
 	mnl_attr_put_strz(nlh, CTRL_ATTR_FAMILY_NAME, subsys_name);
 
 	return nlh;