diff --git a/table/src/TFileIter.cxx b/table/src/TFileIter.cxx
index 0eb3b5905ba4b88f0366ec9ae061268efb37c43e..8880a13f9953c33e79a6ca7a3e23a294d68a89f2 100644
--- a/table/src/TFileIter.cxx
+++ b/table/src/TFileIter.cxx
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ TKey *TFileIter::NextEventKey(UInt_t eventNumber, UInt_t runNumber, const char *
    while ( (key = (TKey *)SkipObjects()) ) {
       if (fDirection==kIterForward) fCursorPosition++;
       else                          fCursorPosition--;
-      if ( name != "*") {
+      if ( strcmp(name,"*")) {
          thisKey.SetKey(key->GetName());
          if (thisKey.GetName() < name)  continue;
          if (thisKey.GetName() > name) { key = 0; break; }