diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index 139d0565f9..1d03fdf879 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -1743,6 +1743,11 @@ ifeq ($(HAVE_NETWORKING), 1)
       NEED_CXX_LINKER = 1
       DEFINES += -DHAVE_DISCORD
       DEFINES += -Ideps/discord-rpc/include/ -Ideps/discord-rpc/thirdparty/rapidjson-1.1.0/include/
+
+      ifneq ($(HAVE_THREADS), 1)
+         DEFINES += -DDISCORD_DISABLE_IO_THREAD
+      endif
+
       OBJ     += deps/discord-rpc/src/discord_rpc.o \
                  deps/discord-rpc/src/rpc_connection.o \
                  deps/discord-rpc/src/serialization.o \