diff --git a/criu/include/asm-generic/string.h b/criu/include/asm-generic/string.h
index ff91968a0..6e0f659af 100644
--- a/criu/include/asm-generic/string.h
+++ b/criu/include/asm-generic/string.h
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ static always_inline int builtin_strncmp(const char *cs, const char *ct, size_t
 #ifndef HAS_BUILTIN_MEMSET
 static __maybe_unused void *builtin_memset(void *s, const int c, size_t count)
 {
-	char *dest = s;
+	volatile char *dest = s;
 	size_t i = 0;
 
 	while (i < count)