diff --git a/core/include/macros/math.h b/core/include/macros/math.h
index 9e4e84a1ba..2ef269935b 100644
--- a/core/include/macros/math.h
+++ b/core/include/macros/math.h
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ extern "C" {
                               unsigned int: 1,           \
                               unsigned long: 1,          \
                               unsigned long long: 1,     \
-                              default: (long long)(a) < 0 ? -1 : 1)
+                              default: ((a) > 0LL) ? 1 : -1)
 /**
  * @brief Calculates @p a/ @p b with arithmetic rounding
  */