diff --git a/libs/ardour/globals.cc b/libs/ardour/globals.cc
index 9dcefe4107..65d5e6ea76 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/globals.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/globals.cc
@@ -167,8 +167,10 @@ float ARDOUR::ui_scale_factor = 1.0;
 
 static bool have_old_configuration_files = false;
 static bool running_from_gui             = false;
-static int  cpu_dma_latency_fd           = -1;
 
+#if !(defined PLATFORM_WINDOWS || defined __APPLE__)
+static int  cpu_dma_latency_fd           = -1;
+#endif
 
 namespace ARDOUR {
 extern void setup_enum_writer ();