diff --git a/src/stdlib/SDL_malloc.c b/src/stdlib/SDL_malloc.c
index ac13373d0..c2cb1f3a6 100644
--- a/src/stdlib/SDL_malloc.c
+++ b/src/stdlib/SDL_malloc.c
@@ -5370,7 +5370,7 @@ void SDL_free(void *ptr)
     }
 
     s_mem.free_func(ptr);
-    SDL_AtomicDecRef(&s_mem.num_allocations);
+    (void)SDL_AtomicDecRef(&s_mem.num_allocations);
 }
 
 /* vi: set ts=4 sw=4 expandtab: */