diff --git a/audio/drivers/alsathread.c b/audio/drivers/alsathread.c
index 59ac98eb55..1f638f63c6 100644
--- a/audio/drivers/alsathread.c
+++ b/audio/drivers/alsathread.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 
 #include <rthreads/rthreads.h>
 #include <queues/fifo_queue.h>
+#include <string/stdstring.h>
 
 #include "../audio_driver.h"
 #include "../../configuration.h"
@@ -371,7 +372,7 @@ static void *alsa_device_list_new(void *data)
       /* description of device IOID - input / output identifcation
        * ("Input" or "Output"), NULL means both) */
 
-      if (!io || !strcmp(io,"Output"))
+      if (!io || string_is_equal(io,"Output"))
          string_list_append(s, name, attr);
 
       if (name)