diff --git a/arch/nios2/kernel/setup.c b/arch/nios2/kernel/setup.c
index b101a43d3c5a05ed70fa6a1bcbdb1e7aab537495..a4ff86d58d5cd74c5319e1042622dd2a58345291 100644
--- a/arch/nios2/kernel/setup.c
+++ b/arch/nios2/kernel/setup.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ asmlinkage void __init nios2_boot_init(unsigned r4, unsigned r5, unsigned r6,
 				       unsigned r7)
 {
 	unsigned dtb_passed = 0;
-	char cmdline_passed[COMMAND_LINE_SIZE] = { 0, };
+	char cmdline_passed[COMMAND_LINE_SIZE] __maybe_unused = { 0, };
 
 #if defined(CONFIG_NIOS2_PASS_CMDLINE)
 	if (r4 == 0x534f494e) { /* r4 is magic NIOS */