diff --git a/include/asterisk/stringfields.h b/include/asterisk/stringfields.h
index 4fb87e4b2fb68b8e68a8179f0f93a671d15d10cc..827bb969174042dca7678837f6b1852ebabfc50a 100644
--- a/include/asterisk/stringfields.h
+++ b/include/asterisk/stringfields.h
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ typedef const char * ast_string_field;
   \internal
   \brief A constant empty string used for fields that have no other value
 */
-extern const char *__ast_string_field_empty;
+extern const char __ast_string_field_empty[];
 
 /*!
   \internal
diff --git a/utils.c b/utils.c
index 0022a31bd612d950c115349ff1da0e80460737bc..8e4cc4acc62143ab8c3fcfea4808b370d29257f0 100644
--- a/utils.c
+++ b/utils.c
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ void ast_join(char *s, size_t len, char * const w[])
 	s[ofs] = '\0';
 }
 
-const char const *__ast_string_field_empty = "";
+const char __ast_string_field_empty[] = "";
 
 static int add_string_pool(struct ast_string_field_mgr *mgr, size_t size)
 {