diff --git a/src/compat/Makefile.am b/src/compat/Makefile.am
index 27f0e868..34a70e72 100644
--- a/src/compat/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/compat/Makefile.am
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 EXTRA_LTLIBRARIES = libcompat.la
 EXTRA_libcompat_la_SOURCES = hsearch_r.c
 
-libcompat_la_SOURCES = @COMPAT_SRCS@
+libcompat_la_SOURCES = empty.c @COMPAT_SRCS@
 
 all: libcompat.la
diff --git a/src/compat/empty.c b/src/compat/empty.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b