diff --git a/src/corelib/compat/removed_api.cpp b/src/corelib/compat/removed_api.cpp
index c5ec16a2467..bee1b27f7c1 100644
--- a/src/corelib/compat/removed_api.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/compat/removed_api.cpp
@@ -984,6 +984,13 @@ QDataStream &QDataStream::operator<<(bool i)
     return (*this << qint8(i));
 }
 
+#include "qdebug.h"
+
+Q_CORE_EXPORT void qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(QDebug &debug, size_t sizeofT, int value)
+{
+    qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(debug, sizeofT, uint(value));
+}
+
 #include "qdir.h" // inlined API
 
 bool QDir::operator==(const QDir &dir) const
diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qdebug.cpp b/src/corelib/io/qdebug.cpp
index 42515be1187..d5bdfadba92 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qdebug.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qdebug.cpp
@@ -1323,13 +1323,13 @@ QDebugStateSaver::~QDebugStateSaver()
     \internal
 
     Specialization of the primary template in qdebug.h to out-of-line
-    the common case of QFlags<T>::Int being int.
+    the common case of QFlags<T>::Int being 32-bit.
 
     Just call the generic version so the two don't get out of sync.
 */
-void qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(QDebug &debug, size_t sizeofT, int value)
+void qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(QDebug &debug, size_t sizeofT, uint value)
 {
-    qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator<int>(debug, sizeofT, value);
+    qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator<uint>(debug, sizeofT, value);
 }
 
 #ifndef QT_NO_QOBJECT
diff --git a/src/corelib/io/qdebug.h b/src/corelib/io/qdebug.h
index f941bf40cb0..d311b74c1c0 100644
--- a/src/corelib/io/qdebug.h
+++ b/src/corelib/io/qdebug.h
@@ -523,11 +523,13 @@ inline QDebug operator<<(QDebug debug, const QTaggedPointer<T, Tag> &ptr)
     return debug;
 }
 
-Q_CORE_EXPORT void qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(QDebug &debug, size_t sizeofT, int value);
+Q_CORE_EXPORT void qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(QDebug &debug, size_t sizeofT, uint value);
 
 template <typename Int>
 void qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(QDebug &debug, size_t sizeofT, Int value)
 {
+    static_assert(std::is_unsigned_v<Int>,
+            "Cast value to an unsigned type before calling this function");
     const QDebugStateSaver saver(debug);
     debug.resetFormat();
     debug.nospace() << "QFlags(" << Qt::hex << Qt::showbase;
@@ -591,7 +593,8 @@ template <class T>
 inline QDebug qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator_helper(QDebug debug, const QFlags<T> &flags)
 #endif
 {
-    qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(debug, sizeof(T), typename QFlags<T>::Int(flags));
+    using UInt = typename QIntegerForSizeof<T>::Unsigned;
+    qt_QMetaEnum_flagDebugOperator(debug, sizeof(T), UInt(flags.toInt()));
     return debug;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/io/qdebug/tst_qdebug.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/io/qdebug/tst_qdebug.cpp
index 8bc2985a46d..d5078922ef0 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/io/qdebug/tst_qdebug.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/io/qdebug/tst_qdebug.cpp
@@ -1085,7 +1085,8 @@ void tst_QDebug::qDebugQByteArrayView() const
 
 enum TestEnum {
     Flag1 = 0x1,
-    Flag2 = 0x10
+    Flag2 = 0x10,
+    SignFlag = INT_MIN,
 };
 
 Q_DECLARE_FLAGS(TestFlags, TestEnum)
@@ -1094,7 +1095,7 @@ void tst_QDebug::qDebugQFlags() const
 {
     QString file, function;
     int line = 0;
-    QFlags<TestEnum> flags(Flag1 | Flag2);
+    QFlags<TestEnum> flags(Flag1 | Flag2 | SignFlag);
 
     MessageHandlerSetter mhs(myMessageHandler);
     { qDebug() << flags; }
@@ -1102,7 +1103,7 @@ void tst_QDebug::qDebugQFlags() const
     file = __FILE__; line = __LINE__ - 2; function = Q_FUNC_INFO;
 #endif
     QCOMPARE(s_msgType, QtDebugMsg);
-    QCOMPARE(s_msg, QString::fromLatin1("QFlags(0x1|0x10)"));
+    QCOMPARE(s_msg, QString::fromLatin1("QFlags(0x1|0x10|0x80000000)"));
     QCOMPARE(QString::fromLatin1(s_file), file);
     QCOMPARE(s_line, line);
     QCOMPARE(QString::fromLatin1(s_function), function);