diff --git a/pandatool/src/softegg/softNodeTree.cxx b/pandatool/src/softegg/softNodeTree.cxx
index cc1ee9bcd0..5a08d17ca8 100755
--- a/pandatool/src/softegg/softNodeTree.cxx
+++ b/pandatool/src/softegg/softNodeTree.cxx
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ GetModelNoteInfo( SAA_Scene *scene, SAA_Elem *model ) {
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 char *SoftNodeTree::
 GetRootName( const char *name ) {
-  char *hyphen;
+  const char *hyphen;
   char *root;
   int len;