diff --git a/src/libdraw/string.c b/src/libdraw/string.c
index 5ba5016a..4f08b1b8 100644
--- a/src/libdraw/string.c
+++ b/src/libdraw/string.c
@@ -81,7 +81,11 @@ _string(Image *dst, Point pt, Image *src, Point sp, Font *f, char *s, Rune *r, i
 	}else
 		rptr = &r;
 	sf = nil;
+#if defined(__AIX__)
+	while((*s || *rptr) && len){
+#else
 	while((*s || *r) && len){
+#endif
 		max = Max;
 		if(len < max)
 			max = len;