diff --git a/benchmark/linpack.c b/benchmark/linpack.c
index 32ccb0386..b00834b59 100644
--- a/benchmark/linpack.c
+++ b/benchmark/linpack.c
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
   double time1, time2, timeg1,timeg2;
 
   char *p;
-  if ((p = getenv("OPENBLAS_LOOPS"))) loops=*p;
+  if ((p = getenv("OPENBLAS_LOOPS"))) loops=atoi(p);
   
   argc--;argv++;