diff --git a/include/tradstdc.h b/include/tradstdc.h
index d1b1f250c..e6a8f3e8f 100644
--- a/include/tradstdc.h
+++ b/include/tradstdc.h
@@ -405,6 +405,10 @@ typedef genericptr genericptr_t; /* (void *) or (char *) */
 #if __GNUC__ >= 3
 #define UNUSED __attribute__((unused))
 #define NORETURN __attribute__((noreturn))
+/* disable gcc's __attribute__((__warn_unused_result__)) since explicitly
+   discarding the result by casting to (void) is not accepted as a 'use' */
+#define __warn_unused_result__ /*empty*/
+#define warn_unused_result /*empty*/
 #endif
 #endif