diff --git a/src/stream.c b/src/stream.c
index 70908cfd30a92728f1c12211c1532a65fc35c94c..81fee3cae624cb8f00ecfc238bb57ca3c65d0dcb 100644
--- a/src/stream.c
+++ b/src/stream.c
@@ -720,6 +720,7 @@ streamOpenNCMem(int ncidp, char mode)
   stream_t *streamptr = stream_new_entry(CDI_UNDEFID);
   int streamID = CDI_ESYSTEM;
 
+#ifdef HAVE_NETCDF4
   streamID = streamptr->self;
   if (streamID < 0) return CDI_ELIMIT;
 
@@ -744,6 +745,7 @@ streamOpenNCMem(int ncidp, char mode)
           reshRemove(streamptr->self, &streamOps);
         }
     }
+#endif
 
   return streamID;
 }