diff --git a/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c b/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c
index 6ecec6b28..9b8926fdd 100644
--- a/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c
+++ b/apps/wolfsshd/wolfsshd.c
@@ -407,6 +407,7 @@ static int SetupCTX(WOLFSSHD_CONFIG* conf, WOLFSSH_CTX** ctx)
 
 #ifdef WOLFSSH_CERTS
     /* check if loading in system CA certs */
+    #ifdef WOLFSSL_SYS_CA_CERTS
     if (ret == WS_SUCCESS && wolfSSHD_ConfigGetSystemCA(conf)) {
         WOLFSSL_CTX* sslCtx;
 
@@ -437,6 +438,7 @@ static int SetupCTX(WOLFSSHD_CONFIG* conf, WOLFSSH_CTX** ctx)
             wolfSSL_CTX_free(sslCtx);
         }
     }
+    #endif
 
     /* load in CA certs from file set */
     if (ret == WS_SUCCESS) {