diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index cbe50c2c57..5861727488 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 v1.2.alpha (XXXX-XX-XX)
 -----------------------
 
+* fixed issue #405: 1.2 compile warnings
+
 * fixed issue #333: [debian] Group "arangodb" is not used when starting vie init.d script
 
 * added optional parameter 'excludeSystem' to GET /_api/collection
diff --git a/lib/BasicsC/logging.c b/lib/BasicsC/logging.c
index 983833e429..da4a9c2180 100644
--- a/lib/BasicsC/logging.c
+++ b/lib/BasicsC/logging.c
@@ -531,6 +531,25 @@ static int GenerateMessage (char* buffer,
   return m + n;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief write to stderr
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+void writeStderr (char const* line, size_t len) {
+  ssize_t n;
+
+  while (0 < len) {
+    n = TRI_WRITE(STDERR_FILENO, line, len);
+
+    if (n <= 0) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    line += n;
+    len -= n;
+  }
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 /// @brief outputs a message string to all appenders
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
@@ -541,8 +560,8 @@ static void OutputMessage (TRI_log_level_e level,
                            size_t length,
                            bool copy) {
   if (! LoggingActive) {
-    write(STDERR_FILENO, message, length);
-    write(STDERR_FILENO, "\n", 1);
+    writeStderr(message, length);
+    writeStderr("\n", 1);
 
     if (! copy) {
       TRI_FreeString(TRI_CORE_MEM_ZONE, message);
@@ -558,8 +577,8 @@ static void OutputMessage (TRI_log_level_e level,
   TRI_LockSpin(&AppendersLock);
 
   if (Appenders._length == 0) {
-    write(STDERR_FILENO, message, length);
-    write(STDERR_FILENO, "\n", 1);
+    writeStderr(message, length);
+    writeStderr("\n", 1);
 
     if (! copy) {
       TRI_FreeString(TRI_CORE_MEM_ZONE, message);