diff --git a/src/xalanc/XalanDOM/XalanDOMString.cpp b/src/xalanc/XalanDOM/XalanDOMString.cpp
index 7ceb858..d4342d6 100644
--- a/src/xalanc/XalanDOM/XalanDOMString.cpp
+++ b/src/xalanc/XalanDOM/XalanDOMString.cpp
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 
 const XalanDOMChar  XalanDOMString::s_empty = 0;
 
-const XalanDOMString::size_type     XalanDOMString::npos = 0u; 
+const XalanDOMString::size_type  XalanDOMString::npos = ~0u;
 
 
 XalanDOMString::XalanDOMString(MemoryManager&  theManager) :