diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/rbbinode.cpp b/icu4c/source/common/rbbinode.cpp
index 4966391d098..bbf8e31a5ff 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/rbbinode.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/rbbinode.cpp
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ void   RBBINode::findNodes(UVector *dest, RBBINode::NodeType kind, UErrorCode &s
 //    print.         Print out a single node, for debugging.
 //
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-static const char *nodeTypeNames[] = {
+static const char * const nodeTypeNames[] = {
             "setRef",
             "uset",
             "varRef",