diff --git a/hw/sparc/leon3.c b/hw/sparc/leon3.c
index 5c670b92db..fa4fbe4b30 100644
--- a/hw/sparc/leon3.c
+++ b/hw/sparc/leon3.c
@@ -94,9 +94,9 @@ static uint32_t *gen_store_u32(uint32_t *code, hwaddr addr, uint32_t val)
  * state (eg: initialized by the bootloader). This little code reproduces
  * this behavior.
  */
-static void write_bootloader(uint8_t *base, hwaddr kernel_addr)
+static void write_bootloader(void *ptr, hwaddr kernel_addr)
 {
-    uint32_t *p = (uint32_t *) base;
+    uint32_t *p = ptr;
 
     /* Initialize the UARTs                                        */
     /* *UART_CONTROL = UART_RECEIVE_ENABLE | UART_TRANSMIT_ENABLE; */
@@ -338,10 +338,7 @@ static void leon3_generic_hw_init(MachineState *machine)
              * the machine in an initialized state through a little
              * bootloader.
              */
-            uint8_t *bootloader_entry;
-
-            bootloader_entry = memory_region_get_ram_ptr(prom);
-            write_bootloader(bootloader_entry, entry);
+            write_bootloader(memory_region_get_ram_ptr(prom), entry);
             reset_info->entry = LEON3_PROM_OFFSET;
         }
     }