diff --git a/src/node_crypto.cc b/src/node_crypto.cc
index 9f73df35caf..5274120e2cb 100644
--- a/src/node_crypto.cc
+++ b/src/node_crypto.cc
@@ -607,6 +607,7 @@ int Connection::HandleBIOError(BIO *bio, const char* func, int rv) {
   if (rv >= 0) return rv;
 
   int retry = BIO_should_retry(bio);
+  (void) retry; // unused if !defined(SSL_PRINT_DEBUG)
 
   if (BIO_should_write(bio)) {
     DEBUG_PRINT("[%p] BIO: %s want write. should retry %d\n", ssl_, func, retry);