diff --git a/src/base/sat_counter.hh b/src/base/sat_counter.hh
index a607c4ca85..ecb8df8b49 100644
--- a/src/base/sat_counter.hh
+++ b/src/base/sat_counter.hh
@@ -318,9 +318,9 @@ class GenericSatCounter
      *
      * @ingroup api_sat_counter
      */
-    uint8_t saturate()
+    T saturate()
     {
-        const uint8_t diff = maxVal - counter;
+        const T diff = maxVal - counter;
         counter = maxVal;
         return diff;
     }
diff --git a/src/base/sat_counter.test.cc b/src/base/sat_counter.test.cc
index 07a01c7279..0a6459c23f 100644
--- a/src/base/sat_counter.test.cc
+++ b/src/base/sat_counter.test.cc
@@ -149,6 +149,20 @@ TEST(SatCounterTest, Saturate)
     ASSERT_TRUE(counter.isSaturated());
 }
 
+TEST(SatCounterTest, Saturate16)
+{
+    const unsigned bits = 14;
+    const unsigned max_value = (1 << bits) - 1;
+    SatCounter16 counter(bits);
+    counter++;
+    ASSERT_FALSE(counter.isSaturated());
+
+    // Make sure the value added is what was missing to saturate
+    const unsigned diff = counter.saturate();
+    ASSERT_EQ(diff, max_value - 1);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(counter.isSaturated());
+}
+
 /**
  * Test back and forth against an int.
  */