diff --git a/lib/libnvpair/Makefile.am b/lib/libnvpair/Makefile.am
index 7b9ebebe79..9a71a2ea61 100644
--- a/lib/libnvpair/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/libnvpair/Makefile.am
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ VPATH = \
 AM_CFLAGS += $(FRAME_LARGER_THAN) $(LIBTIRPC_CFLAGS)
 AM_CFLAGS += -fvisibility=hidden
 
+# wchar_t is undefined-signedness, but we compare to >=0; this warns with unsigned wchar_t
+libnvpair_json.$(OBJEXT): CFLAGS += -Wno-type-limits
+libnvpair_json.l$(OBJEXT): CFLAGS += -Wno-type-limits
+
 lib_LTLIBRARIES = libnvpair.la
 
 include $(top_srcdir)/config/Abigail.am