diff --git a/coreutils/ls.c b/coreutils/ls.c
index e9c2e8643..f2512fb9c 100644
--- a/coreutils/ls.c
+++ b/coreutils/ls.c
@@ -576,7 +576,9 @@ static struct dnode **list_dir(char *path)
 static int list_single(struct dnode *dn)
 {
 	int i;
+#ifdef CONFIG_FEATURE_LS_USERNAME
 	char scratch[BUFSIZ + 1];
+#endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_FEATURE_LS_TIMESTAMPS
 	char *filetime;
 	time_t ttime, age;