diff --git a/include/rapidjson/encodings.h b/include/rapidjson/encodings.h
index 0df1c34..7903e76 100644
--- a/include/rapidjson/encodings.h
+++ b/include/rapidjson/encodings.h
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ struct UTF16BE : UTF16<CharType> {
     static CharType Take(InputByteStream& is) {
         RAPIDJSON_STATIC_ASSERT(sizeof(typename InputByteStream::Ch) == 1);
         unsigned c = static_cast<unsigned>(static_cast<uint8_t>(is.Take())) << 8;
-        c |= static_cast<uint8_t>(is.Take());
+        c |= static_cast<unsigned>(static_cast<uint8_t>(is.Take()));
         return static_cast<CharType>(c);
     }