diff --git a/fs/ext3/balloc.c b/fs/ext3/balloc.c
index 4a32511..a49ce4a 100644
--- a/fs/ext3/balloc.c
+++ b/fs/ext3/balloc.c
@@ -792,9 +792,9 @@
 	if (here < 0)
 		here = 0;
 
-	p = ((char *)bh->b_data) + (here >> 3);
+	p = bh->b_data + (here >> 3);
 	r = memscan(p, 0, ((maxblocks + 7) >> 3) - (here >> 3));
-	next = (r - ((char *)bh->b_data)) << 3;
+	next = (r - bh->b_data) << 3;
 
 	if (next < maxblocks && next >= start && ext3_test_allocatable(next, bh))
 		return next;