diff --git a/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/typename.c b/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/typename.c
index e24124ed9a..ff22d703bf 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/typename.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/typename.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/typename.c,v 1.17 2010/01/13 08:41:48 meskes Exp $ */
+/* $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/typename.c,v 1.18 2010/01/13 09:06:51 meskes Exp $ */
 
 #define POSTGRES_ECPG_INTERNAL
 #include "postgres_fe.h"
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ sqlda_dynamic_type(Oid type, enum COMPAT_MODE compat)
 #ifdef HAVE_LONG_INT_64
 			return ECPGt_long;
 #endif
+		/* Unhandled types always return a string */
 		default:
-			return (-type);
+			return ECPGt_char;
 	}
 }