diff --git a/libavcodec/h264.c b/libavcodec/h264.c
index 5785e1fc42..1d3dbc0ed5 100644
--- a/libavcodec/h264.c
+++ b/libavcodec/h264.c
@@ -6461,7 +6461,7 @@ static void filter_mb( H264Context *h, int mb_x, int mb_y, uint8_t *img_y, uint8
     const int mb_type = s->current_picture.mb_type[mb_xy];
     const int mvy_limit = IS_INTERLACED(mb_type) ? 2 : 4;
     int first_vertical_edge_done = 0;
-    int dir;
+    av_unused int dir;
 
     //for sufficiently low qp, filtering wouldn't do anything
     //this is a conservative estimate: could also check beta_offset and more accurate chroma_qp