diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/fmt.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/fmt.go
index fd6b9ce53cc..95576b63955 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/fmt.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/fmt.go
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ func fmtFlag(s fmt.State, verb rune) FmtFlag {
 
 // *types.Sym, *types.Type, and *Node types use the flags below to set the format mode
 const (
-	FErr = iota
+	FErr fmtMode = iota
 	FDbg
 	FTypeId
 	FTypeIdName // same as FTypeId, but use package name instead of prefix
diff --git a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/main.go b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/main.go
index 4b6c8f25656..8d7110b8924 100644
--- a/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/main.go
+++ b/src/cmd/compile/internal/gc/main.go
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ func Main(archInit func(*Arch)) {
 	}
 	types.FmtLeft = int(FmtLeft)
 	types.FmtUnsigned = int(FmtUnsigned)
-	types.FErr = FErr
+	types.FErr = int(FErr)
 	types.Ctxt = Ctxt
 
 	initUniverse()