diff --git a/src/common/pipe.c b/src/common/pipe.c
index 312f486f7a0..0cfdb519ddb 100644
--- a/src/common/pipe.c
+++ b/src/common/pipe.c
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
  *
  */
 
+#ifndef _GNU_SOURCE
+#define _GNU_SOURCE /* need for pipe2 */
+#endif
+
 #include "common/pipe.h"
 
 #include <errno.h>