diff --git a/components/esp_hw_support/include/esp_memory_utils.h b/components/esp_hw_support/include/esp_memory_utils.h
index 188f14ea34d2..ea11a76dc05f 100644
--- a/components/esp_hw_support/include/esp_memory_utils.h
+++ b/components/esp_hw_support/include/esp_memory_utils.h
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ bool esp_ptr_external_ram(const void *p);
  */
 __attribute__((always_inline))
 inline static bool esp_ptr_in_drom(const void *p) {
-    uint32_t drom_start_addr = SOC_DROM_LOW;
+    int32_t drom_start_addr = SOC_DROM_LOW;
 #if CONFIG_ESP32S3_DATA_CACHE_16KB
     /* For ESP32-S3, when the DCACHE size is set to 16 kB, the unused 48 kB is
      * added to the heap in 2 blocks of 32 kB (from 0x3FCF0000) and 16 kB