diff --git a/openbsc/include/openbsc/gsm_subscriber.h b/openbsc/include/openbsc/gsm_subscriber.h
index 7d6c776..785dc36 100644
--- a/openbsc/include/openbsc/gsm_subscriber.h
+++ b/openbsc/include/openbsc/gsm_subscriber.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 #define GSM_SUBSCRIBER_FIRST_CONTACT	0x00000001
 /* gprs_sgsn.h defines additional flags including and above bit 16 (0x10000) */
-#define tmsi_from_string(str) strtoul(str, NULL, 10)
+#define tmsi_from_string(str) strtoul(str + 2, NULL, 16)
 
 #define GSM_SUBSCRIBER_NO_EXPIRATION	0x0
 
diff --git a/openbsc/src/libmsc/db.c b/openbsc/src/libmsc/db.c
index 0935fc5..952151e 100644
--- a/openbsc/src/libmsc/db.c
+++ b/openbsc/src/libmsc/db.c
@@ -893,9 +893,10 @@
 	subscr->id = dbi_result_get_ulonglong(result, "id");
 
 	db_set_from_query(subscr, result);
-	DEBUGP(DDB, "Found Subscriber: ID %llu, IMSI %s, NAME '%s', TMSI %u, EXTEN '%s', LAC %hu, AUTH %u\n",
-		subscr->id, subscr->imsi, subscr->name, subscr->tmsi, subscr->extension,
-		subscr->lac, subscr->authorized);
+	DEBUGP(DDB, "Found Subscriber: ID %llu, IMSI %s, NAME '%s', "
+		"TMSI 0x%08x, EXTEN '%s', LAC %hu, AUTH %u\n",
+		subscr->id, subscr->imsi, subscr->name, subscr->tmsi,
+		subscr->extension, subscr->lac, subscr->authorized);
 	dbi_result_free(result);
 
 	get_equipment_by_subscr(subscr);
@@ -935,7 +936,7 @@
 int db_sync_subscriber(struct gsm_subscriber *subscriber)
 {
 	dbi_result result;
-	char tmsi[14];
+	char tmsi[11];
 	char *q_tmsi, *q_name, *q_extension;
 
 	dbi_conn_quote_string_copy(conn, 
@@ -944,7 +945,7 @@
 				   subscriber->extension, &q_extension);
 	
 	if (subscriber->tmsi != GSM_RESERVED_TMSI) {
-		sprintf(tmsi, "%u", subscriber->tmsi);
+		sprintf(tmsi, "0x%08x", subscriber->tmsi);
 		dbi_conn_quote_string_copy(conn,
 				   tmsi,
 				   &q_tmsi);
@@ -1194,7 +1195,7 @@
 int db_subscriber_alloc_tmsi(struct gsm_subscriber *subscriber)
 {
 	dbi_result result = NULL;
-	char tmsi[14];
+	char tmsi[11];
 	char *tmsi_quoted;
 
 	for (;;) {
@@ -1205,7 +1206,7 @@
 		if (subscriber->tmsi == GSM_RESERVED_TMSI)
 			continue;
 
-		sprintf(tmsi, "%u", subscriber->tmsi);
+		sprintf(tmsi, "0x%08x", subscriber->tmsi);
 		dbi_conn_quote_string_copy(conn, tmsi, &tmsi_quoted);
 		result = dbi_conn_queryf(conn,
 			"SELECT * FROM Subscriber "
diff --git a/openbsc/tests/db/db_test.c b/openbsc/tests/db/db_test.c
index a02d1f8..faea820 100644
--- a/openbsc/tests/db/db_test.c
+++ b/openbsc/tests/db/db_test.c
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@
 	alice->lac=42;
 	db_sync_subscriber(alice);
 	/* Get by TMSI */
-	snprintf(scratch_str, sizeof(scratch_str), "%"PRIu32, alice->tmsi);
+	snprintf(scratch_str, sizeof(scratch_str), "0x%08x", alice->tmsi);
 	alice_db = db_get_subscriber(GSM_SUBSCRIBER_TMSI, scratch_str);
 	COMPARE(alice, alice_db);
 	SUBSCR_PUT(alice_db);
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@
 	db_subscriber_assoc_imei(alice, "1234567890");
 	db_subscriber_assoc_imei(alice, "6543560920");
 	/* Get by TMSI */
-	snprintf(scratch_str, sizeof(scratch_str), "%"PRIu32, alice->tmsi);
+	snprintf(scratch_str, sizeof(scratch_str), "0x%08x", alice->tmsi);
 	alice_db = db_get_subscriber(GSM_SUBSCRIBER_TMSI, scratch_str);
 	COMPARE(alice, alice_db);
 	SUBSCR_PUT(alice_db);
diff --git a/openbsc/tests/gsm0408/gsm0408_test.c b/openbsc/tests/gsm0408/gsm0408_test.c
index 781ef61..8ed57ca 100644
--- a/openbsc/tests/gsm0408/gsm0408_test.c
+++ b/openbsc/tests/gsm0408/gsm0408_test.c
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
 	/* tmsi code */
 	mi_len = gsm48_generate_mid_from_tmsi(mi, tmsi);
 	gsm48_mi_to_string(mi_parsed, sizeof(mi_parsed), mi + 2, mi_len - 2);
-	COMPARE((uint32_t)strtoul(mi_parsed, NULL, 10), ==, tmsi);
+	COMPARE((uint32_t)tmsi_from_string(mi_parsed), ==, tmsi);
 
 	/* imsi code */
 	mi_len = gsm48_generate_mid_from_imsi(mi, imsi_odd);