diff --git a/src/Prep/ShapeFile/noaa-decode.cxx b/src/Prep/ShapeFile/noaa-decode.cxx
index 88f834a2..b19239b5 100644
--- a/src/Prep/ShapeFile/noaa-decode.cxx
+++ b/src/Prep/ShapeFile/noaa-decode.cxx
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv ) {
 
     string shapetype = SHPTypeName( nShapeType );
 
-    if ( shapetype != "Polygon" ) {
+    if ( shapetype != string("Polygon") ) {
 	SG_LOG( SG_GENERAL, SG_ALERT, "Can't handle non-polygon shape files" );
 	exit(-1);
     }