diff --git a/lib/libalpm/db.c b/lib/libalpm/db.c
index b06a970c..1052840f 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/db.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/db.c
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_db_update(int force, pmdb_t *db)
 		snprintf(path, PATH_MAX, "%s%s" DBEXT, dbpath, db->treename);
 
 		/* remove the old dir */
-		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "flushing database %s%s\n", db->path);
+		_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "flushing database %s\n", db->path);
 		for(lp = _alpm_db_get_pkgcache(db); lp; lp = lp->next) {
 			pmpkg_t *pkg = lp->data;
 			if(pkg && _alpm_db_remove(db, pkg) == -1) {
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@ alpm_list_t SYMEXPORT *alpm_db_get_upgrades(void)
 
 					if(strcmp(k->data, alpm_pkg_get_name(lpkg)) == 0) {
 						_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "checking replacement '%s' for package '%s'\n",
-								k->data, alpm_pkg_get_name(spkg));
+								(char *)k->data, alpm_pkg_get_name(spkg));
 						if(alpm_list_find_str(handle->ignorepkg, alpm_pkg_get_name(lpkg))) {
 							_alpm_log(PM_LOG_WARNING, _("%s-%s: ignoring package upgrade (to be replaced by %s-%s)\n"),
 												alpm_pkg_get_name(lpkg), alpm_pkg_get_version(lpkg),
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/log.h b/lib/libalpm/log.h
index abb160d5..00fabf47 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/log.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/log.h
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 #define ALPM_LOG_FUNC
 #endif
 
-void _alpm_log(pmloglevel_t flag, char *fmt, ...);
+void _alpm_log(pmloglevel_t flag, char *fmt, ...) __attribute__((format(printf,2,3)));
 
 #endif /* _ALPM_LOG_H */
 
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/remove.c b/lib/libalpm/remove.c
index 07fd0235..734c365c 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/remove.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/remove.c
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ static void unlink_file(pmpkg_t *info, alpm_list_t *lp, pmtrans_t *trans)
 
 		if(unlink(file) == -1) {
 			_alpm_log(PM_LOG_ERROR, _("cannot remove file '%s': %s\n"),
-								lp->data, strerror(errno));
+								(char *)lp->data, strerror(errno));
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/sync.c b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
index f21f7d35..d24a1e52 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/sync.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/sync.c
@@ -281,7 +281,8 @@ int _alpm_sync_addtarget(pmtrans_t *trans, pmdb_t *db_local, alpm_list_t *dbs_sy
 					if(!p) {
 						RET_ERR(PM_ERR_PKG_NOT_FOUND, -1);
 					}
-					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "found '%s' as a provision for '%s'\n", p->data, targ);
+					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "found '%s' as a provision for '%s'\n",
+							(char *)p->data, targ);
 					spkg = _alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(db, p->data);
 					alpm_list_free(p);
 				}
@@ -304,7 +305,8 @@ int _alpm_sync_addtarget(pmtrans_t *trans, pmdb_t *db_local, alpm_list_t *dbs_sy
 				pmdb_t *db = j->data;
 				alpm_list_t *p = _alpm_db_whatprovides(db, targ);
 				if(p) {
-					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "found '%s' as a provision for '%s'\n", p->data, targ);
+					_alpm_log(PM_LOG_DEBUG, "found '%s' as a provision for '%s'\n",
+							(char *)p->data, targ);
 					spkg = _alpm_db_get_pkgfromcache(db, p->data);
 					alpm_list_free(p);
 				}