diff --git a/lib/ipmi_main.c b/lib/ipmi_main.c
index b232aca..e6f96f6 100644
--- a/lib/ipmi_main.c
+++ b/lib/ipmi_main.c
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ ipmi_parse_hex(const char *str)
 		else /* it's A-F or a-f */
 			b = (*p | 0x20) - 'a' + 10; /* convert to lowercase and to 10-15 */
 
-		*q = *q + b << shift;
+		*q = *q + (b << shift);
 		if (shift)
 			shift = 0;
 		else {