diff --git a/readerwriter/LoadSceneGLTF.cpp b/readerwriter/LoadSceneGLTF.cpp
index 28f8e297e69f6291d5705668a6f0698837de058b..aefdec3c0b2baf52ca9129f7bb8303af75261c46 100644
--- a/readerwriter/LoadSceneGLTF.cpp
+++ b/readerwriter/LoadSceneGLTF.cpp
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ namespace osgVerse
         {
             tinygltf::Animation& anim = _modelDef.animations[i];
             std::string animName = anim.name; if (animName.empty()) animName = "Take001";
-            unsigned int belongsToSkeleton = -1;
+            int belongsToSkeleton = -1;
 
             typedef std::pair<std::string, int> PathAndSampler;
             std::map<osg::Node*, std::vector<PathAndSampler>> samplers;