diff --git a/include/alpaca/detail/variable_length_encoding.h b/include/alpaca/detail/variable_length_encoding.h
index b12f147..13638d4 100644
--- a/include/alpaca/detail/variable_length_encoding.h
+++ b/include/alpaca/detail/variable_length_encoding.h
@@ -9,15 +9,15 @@ namespace alpaca {
 namespace detail {
 
 template <typename T> bool CHECK_BIT(T &value, uint8_t pos) {
-  return ((value) & (1 << (pos)));
+  return ((value) & (T{1} << (pos)));
 }
 
 template <typename T> void SET_BIT(T &value, uint8_t pos) {
-  value = value | 1 << pos;
+  value = value | T{1} << pos;
 }
 
 template <typename T> void RESET_BIT(T &value, uint8_t pos) {
-  value = value & ~(1 << pos);
+  value = value & ~(T{1} << pos);
 }
 
 template <typename int_t, typename Container>
@@ -242,4 +242,4 @@ decode_varint(Container &input, std::size_t &current_index) {
 
 } // namespace detail
 
-} // namespace alpaca
\ No newline at end of file
+} // namespace alpaca