diff --git a/event.c b/event.c
index 0078da6d..6386a942 100644
--- a/event.c
+++ b/event.c
@@ -159,9 +159,9 @@ gettime(struct event_base *base, struct timeval *tp)
 	}
 
 #if defined(HAVE_CLOCK_GETTIME) && defined(CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
-	struct timespec	ts;
-
 	if (use_monotonic) {
+		struct timespec	ts;
+
 		if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &ts) == -1)
 			return (-1);