diff --git a/namedev.h b/namedev.h
index 9cff3710d4..a0cdba6b16 100644
--- a/namedev.h
+++ b/namedev.h
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ struct perm_device {
 	char name[NAME_SIZE];
 	char owner[OWNER_SIZE];
 	char group[GROUP_SIZE];
-	mode_t mode;
+	unsigned int mode;
 };
 
 extern struct list_head config_device_list;
diff --git a/udev.h b/udev.h
index 108623e059..9e01e40492 100644
--- a/udev.h
+++ b/udev.h
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ struct udevice {
 	char type;
 	int major;
 	int minor;
-	mode_t mode;
+	unsigned int mode;	/* not mode_t due to conflicting definitions in different libcs */
 	char symlink[NAME_SIZE];
 
 	/* fields that help us in building strings */