diff --git a/runtime.c b/runtime.c
index 7df4729c..22290b04 100644
--- a/runtime.c
+++ b/runtime.c
@@ -1119,7 +1119,7 @@ object Cyc_write_u8(void *data, object c, object port)
   if (obj_is_char(c)) {
     FILE *fp = ((port_type *) port)->fp;
     if (fp){
-      char_type unbox = obj_obj2char(c);
+      char unbox = (char) obj_obj2char(c);
       fprintf(fp, "%c", unbox);
     }
   } else {
diff --git a/scheme/base.sld b/scheme/base.sld
index 55f88c21..04dc8574 100644
--- a/scheme/base.sld
+++ b/scheme/base.sld
@@ -645,7 +645,7 @@
         (_peek-u8 (car port))))
     (define (write-u8 chr . port)
       (if (null? port)
-        (_write-u8 chr (current-input-port))
+        (_write-u8 chr (current-output-port))
         (_write-u8 chr (car port))))
     (define (peek-char . port)
       (if (null? port)