diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 8b2b5bdb2e..6f8374028c 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3385,6 +3385,7 @@ void qemu_chr_close(CharDriverState *chr)
 /***********************************************************/
 /* network device redirectors */
 
+__attribute__ (( unused ))
 static void hex_dump(FILE *f, const uint8_t *buf, int size)
 {
     int len, i, j, c;