diff --git a/include/Makefile.am b/include/Makefile.am
index 50fde24..e9fa8ad 100644
--- a/include/Makefile.am
+++ b/include/Makefile.am
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ nobase_include_HEADERS = \
 	netlink/route/cls/u32.h \
 	netlink/route/link/api.h \
 	netlink/route/link/info-api.h \
+	netlink/route/link/inet.h \
 	netlink/route/link/vlan.h \
 	netlink/route/qdisc/cbq.h \
 	netlink/route/qdisc/dsmark.h \
diff --git a/include/netlink/route/link/inet.h b/include/netlink/route/link/inet.h
index 9feff37..66419e3 100644
--- a/include/netlink/route/link/inet.h
+++ b/include/netlink/route/link/inet.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 extern const char *	rtnl_link_inet_devconf2str(int, char *, size_t);
-extern unsigned int	rtnl_link_inet_str2devconf(const char *);
+extern int		rtnl_link_inet_str2devconf(const char *);
 
 extern int		rtnl_link_inet_get_conf(struct rtnl_link *,
 						const unsigned int, uint32_t *);
diff --git a/lib/route/link/inet.c b/lib/route/link/inet.c
index 9a82a8b..a0e2318 100644
--- a/lib/route/link/inet.c
+++ b/lib/route/link/inet.c
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ const char *rtnl_link_inet_devconf2str(int type, char *buf, size_t len)
 			  ARRAY_SIZE(inet_devconf));
 }
 
-unsigned int rtnl_link_inet_str2devconf(const char *name)
+int rtnl_link_inet_str2devconf(const char *name)
 {
 	return __str2type(name, inet_devconf, ARRAY_SIZE(inet_devconf));
 }