diff --git a/include/linux/string.h b/include/linux/string.h
index d943fcce690..9e47fe01c16 100644
--- a/include/linux/string.h
+++ b/include/linux/string.h
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ void *memchr_inv(const void *, int, size_t);
  *	memory is available
  *
  */
-char *memdup(const void *src, size_t len);
+void *memdup(const void *src, size_t len);
 
 unsigned long ustrtoul(const char *cp, char **endp, unsigned int base);
 unsigned long long ustrtoull(const char *cp, char **endp, unsigned int base);
diff --git a/lib/string.c b/lib/string.c
index d56f88d4a84..c2813e0f854 100644
--- a/lib/string.c
+++ b/lib/string.c
@@ -667,17 +667,15 @@ void * memscan(void * addr, int c, size_t size)
 }
 #endif
 
-char *memdup(const void *src, size_t len)
+void *memdup(const void *src, size_t len)
 {
-	char *p;
+	void *p;
 
 	p = malloc(len);
 	if (!p)
 		return NULL;
 
-	memcpy(p, src, len);
-
-	return p;
+	return memcpy(p, src, len);
 }
 
 #ifndef __HAVE_ARCH_STRNSTR