diff --git a/sql/sql_prepare.cc b/sql/sql_prepare.cc
index 5f3539ca1e9..3084e2a62dd 100644
--- a/sql/sql_prepare.cc
+++ b/sql/sql_prepare.cc
@@ -2168,8 +2168,9 @@ static void reset_stmt_params(Prepared_statement *stmt)
     client, otherwise an error message is set in THD.
 */
 
-void mysql_stmt_execute(THD *thd, char *packet, uint packet_length)
+void mysql_stmt_execute(THD *thd, char *packet_arg, uint packet_length)
 {
+  uchar *packet= (uchar*)packet_arg; // GCC 4.0.1 workaround
   ulong stmt_id= uint4korr(packet);
   ulong flags= (ulong) ((uchar) packet[4]);
   /* Query text for binary, general or slow log, if any of them is open */