diff --git a/lib/getdate.y b/lib/getdate.y
index c35615227..2ea894838 100644
--- a/lib/getdate.y
+++ b/lib/getdate.y
@@ -722,7 +722,7 @@ ToHour (int Hours, MERIDIAN Meridian)
 	Hours = 0;
       return Hours + 12;
     default:
-      abort ();
+      break; /* used to do abort() here */
     }
   /* NOTREACHED - but make gcc happy! */
   return -1;