diff --git a/src/node_url.cc b/src/node_url.cc
index 2541b95aa0c70d..9f22fa069804f5 100644
--- a/src/node_url.cc
+++ b/src/node_url.cc
@@ -222,8 +222,7 @@ void AppendOrEscape(std::string* str,
     *str += ch;
 }
 
-template <typename T>
-unsigned hex2bin(const T ch) {
+unsigned hex2bin(const char ch) {
   if (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9')
     return ch - '0';
   if (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'F')