diff --git a/src/cairo-misc.c b/src/cairo-misc.c
index df8a4efc9..3c7c95986 100644
--- a/src/cairo-misc.c
+++ b/src/cairo-misc.c
@@ -774,7 +774,7 @@ cairo_get_locale_decimal_point (void)
 const char *
 cairo_get_locale_decimal_point (void)
 {
-    return '.';
+    return ".";
 }
 #endif