diff --git a/lib/http.h b/lib/http.h
index b0b37b6ae..a506238a6 100644
--- a/lib/http.h
+++ b/lib/http.h
@@ -151,6 +151,8 @@ struct HTTP {
 struct http_conn {
 #ifdef USE_NGHTTP2
   nghttp2_session *h2;
+#else
+  int unused; /* prevent a compiler warning */
 #endif
 };