diff --git a/cpp/src/text/edit_distance.cu b/cpp/src/text/edit_distance.cu
index 1460be4fcf5..3d5f2d72e6f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/text/edit_distance.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/text/edit_distance.cu
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<cudf::column> edit_distance_matrix(cudf::strings_column_view con
   cudf::size_type n_upper = (strings_count * (strings_count - 1)) / 2;
   rmm::device_uvector<std::ptrdiff_t> offsets(n_upper, stream);
   auto d_offsets = offsets.data();
-  CUDF_CUDA_TRY(cudaMemsetAsync(d_offsets, 0, n_upper * sizeof(cudf::size_type), stream.value()));
+  CUDF_CUDA_TRY(cudaMemsetAsync(d_offsets, 0, n_upper * sizeof(std::ptrdiff_t), stream.value()));
   thrust::for_each_n(
     rmm::exec_policy(stream),
     thrust::make_counting_iterator<cudf::size_type>(0),