diff --git a/include/protocols/dumprestore.h b/include/protocols/dumprestore.h
index 0b69e2d9709a..b4e6ec9a08ac 100644
--- a/include/protocols/dumprestore.h
+++ b/include/protocols/dumprestore.h
@@ -134,13 +134,4 @@ union u_spcl {
 #define TS_CLRI 	6	/* map of inodes deleted since last dump */
 #define TS_END  	5	/* end of volume marker */
 
-/*
- * flag values
- */
-/* None at the moment */
-
-#define	DUMPOUTFMT	"%-32s %c %s"		/* for printf */
-						/* name, level, ctime(date) */
-#define	DUMPINFMT	"%32s %c %[^\n]\n"	/* inverse for scanf */
-
 #endif /* !_DUMPRESTORE_H_ */
diff --git a/sbin/dump/dump.h b/sbin/dump/dump.h
index 73e2d0156ff4..efef7f7fadef 100644
--- a/sbin/dump/dump.h
+++ b/sbin/dump/dump.h
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ char	*tape;		/* name of the tape file */
 char	*popenout;	/* popen(3) per-"tape" command */
 char	*dumpdates;	/* name of the file containing dump date information*/
 char	*temp;		/* name of the file for doing rewrite of dumpdates */
-char	lastlevel;	/* dump level of previous dump */
-char	level;		/* dump level of this dump */
+int	lastlevel;	/* dump level of previous dump */
+int	level;		/* dump level of this dump */
 int	uflag;		/* update flag */
 int	diskfd;		/* disk file descriptor */
 int	tapefd;		/* tape file descriptor */
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ struct	fstab *fstabsearch(const char *key); /* search fs_file and fs_spec */
  */
 struct dumpdates {
 	char	dd_name[NAME_MAX+3];
-	char	dd_level;
+	int	dd_level;
 	time_t	dd_ddate;
 };
 int	nddates;		/* number of records (might be zero) */
@@ -171,6 +171,10 @@ void	putdumptime(void);
     	if (ddatev != NULL) \
 		for (ddp = ddatev[i = 0]; i < nddates; ddp = ddatev[++i])
 
+#define	DUMPOUTFMT	"%-32s %d %s"		/* for printf */
+						/* name, level, ctime(date) */
+#define	DUMPINFMT	"%32s %d %[^\n]\n"	/* inverse for scanf */
+
 void	sig(int signo);
 
 #ifndef	_PATH_FSTAB
diff --git a/sbin/dump/itime.c b/sbin/dump/itime.c
index de880bbc030c..1f1a3e587118 100644
--- a/sbin/dump/itime.c
+++ b/sbin/dump/itime.c
@@ -132,11 +132,11 @@ getdumptime(void)
 
 	fname = disk;
 #ifdef FDEBUG
-	msg("Looking for name %s in dumpdates = %s for level = %c\n",
+	msg("Looking for name %s in dumpdates = %s for level = %d\n",
 		fname, dumpdates, level);
 #endif
 	spcl.c_ddate = 0;
-	lastlevel = '0';
+	lastlevel = 0;
 
 	initdumptimes();
 	/*
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ putdumptime(void)
 		time_t t = _time64_to_time(spcl.c_date);
 		tmsg = ctime(&t);
 	}
-	msg("level %c dump on %s", level, tmsg);
+	msg("level %d dump on %s", level, tmsg);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ getrecord(FILE *df, struct dumpdates *ddatep)
 			dumpdates, recno);
 
 #ifdef FDEBUG
-	msg("getrecord: %s %c %s", ddatep->dd_name, ddatep->dd_level,
+	msg("getrecord: %s %d %s", ddatep->dd_name, ddatep->dd_level,
 	    ddatep->dd_ddate == 0 ? "the epoch\n" : ctime(&ddatep->dd_ddate));
 #endif
 	return(0);
diff --git a/sbin/dump/main.c b/sbin/dump/main.c
index 63e4845c53c2..7a99522783fc 100644
--- a/sbin/dump/main.c
+++ b/sbin/dump/main.c
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	temp = _PATH_DTMP;
 	if (TP_BSIZE / DEV_BSIZE == 0 || TP_BSIZE % DEV_BSIZE != 0)
 		quit("TP_BSIZE must be a multiple of DEV_BSIZE\n");
-	level = '0';
+	level = 0;
 	rsync_friendly = 0;
 
 	if (argc < 2)
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		/* dump level */
 		case '0': case '1': case '2': case '3': case '4':
 		case '5': case '6': case '7': case '8': case '9':
-			level = ch;
+			level = 10 * level + ch - '0';
 			break;
 
 		case 'a':		/* `auto-size', Write to EOM. */
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 				exit(X_STARTUP);
 			}
 			Tflag = 1;
-			lastlevel = '?';
+			lastlevel = -1;
 			break;
 
 		case 'u':		/* update /etc/dumpdates */
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		(void)fprintf(stderr, "\n");
 		exit(X_STARTUP);
 	}
-	if (rsync_friendly && (level>'0')) {
+	if (rsync_friendly && (level > 0)) {
 		(void)fprintf(stderr, "%s %s\n", "rsync friendly options",
 		    "can be used only with level 0 dumps.");
 		exit(X_STARTUP);
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	(void)strcpy(spcl.c_label, "none");
 	(void)gethostname(spcl.c_host, NAMELEN);
-	spcl.c_level = level - '0';
+	spcl.c_level = level;
 	spcl.c_type = TS_TAPE;
 	if (rsync_friendly) {
 		/* don't store real dump times */
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		time_t t = _time64_to_time(spcl.c_date);
 		tmsg = ctime(&t);
 	}
-	msg("Date of this level %c dump: %s", level, tmsg);
+	msg("Date of this level %d dump: %s", level, tmsg);
 
 	if (!Tflag && (!rsync_friendly))
 	        getdumptime();		/* /etc/dumpdates snarfed */
@@ -421,7 +421,10 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		time_t t = _time64_to_time(spcl.c_ddate);
 		tmsg = ctime(&t);
 	}
- 	msg("Date of last level %c dump: %s", lastlevel, tmsg);
+	if (lastlevel < 0)
+		msg("Date of last (level unknown) dump: %s", tmsg);
+	else
+		msg("Date of last level %d dump: %s", lastlevel, tmsg);
 
 	msg("Dumping %s%s ", snapdump ? "snapshot of ": "", disk);
 	if (dt != NULL)