diff --git a/rpc/client/helpers.go b/rpc/client/helpers.go
index 027964ac9..e41c2d657 100644
--- a/rpc/client/helpers.go
+++ b/rpc/client/helpers.go
@@ -10,11 +10,11 @@ import (
 )
 
 // Waiter is informed of current height, decided whether to quit early
-type Waiter func(delta int) (abort error)
+type Waiter func(delta int64) (abort error)
 
 // DefaultWaitStrategy is the standard backoff algorithm,
 // but you can plug in another one
-func DefaultWaitStrategy(delta int) (abort error) {
+func DefaultWaitStrategy(delta int64) (abort error) {
 	if delta > 10 {
 		return errors.Errorf("Waiting for %d blocks... aborting", delta)
 	} else if delta > 0 {
@@ -36,13 +36,13 @@ func WaitForHeight(c StatusClient, h int64, waiter Waiter) error {
 	if waiter == nil {
 		waiter = DefaultWaitStrategy
 	}
-	delta := 1
+	delta := int64(1)
 	for delta > 0 {
 		s, err := c.Status()
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		delta = int(h - s.LatestBlockHeight)
+		delta = h - s.LatestBlockHeight
 		// wait for the time, or abort early
 		if err := waiter(delta); err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/rpc/client/helpers_test.go b/rpc/client/helpers_test.go
index 13b3b1d03..cef462475 100644
--- a/rpc/client/helpers_test.go
+++ b/rpc/client/helpers_test.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func TestWaitForHeight(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// since we can't update in a background goroutine (test --race)
 	// we use the callback to update the status height
-	myWaiter := func(delta int) error {
+	myWaiter := func(delta int64) error {
 		// update the height for the next call
 		m.Call.Response = &ctypes.ResultStatus{LatestBlockHeight: 15}
 		return client.DefaultWaitStrategy(delta)