diff --git a/utils.h b/utils.h
index 03fefe9..581883b 100644
--- a/utils.h
+++ b/utils.h
@@ -255,15 +255,12 @@ namespace sequence {
 // this should work with pointer types, or pairs of integers
 template <class ET>
 inline bool CAS(ET *ptr, ET oldv, ET newv) {
-  if (sizeof(ET) == 8) {
-    long* o = (long*) &oldv;
-    long* n = (long*) &newv;
-    return __sync_bool_compare_and_swap((long*)ptr, *o, *n);
-  } else if (sizeof(ET) == 4) {
-    int* o = (int*) &oldv;
-    int* n = (int*) &newv;
-    return __sync_bool_compare_and_swap((int*)ptr, *o, *n);
-  } else {
+  if (sizeof(ET) == 4) {
+    return __sync_bool_compare_and_swap((int*)ptr, *((int*)&oldv), *((int*)&newv));
+  } else if (sizeof(ET) == 8) {
+    return __sync_bool_compare_and_swap((long*)ptr, *((long*)&oldv), *((long*)&newv));
+  } 
+  else {
     std::cout << "CAS bad length" << std::endl;
     abort();
   }