diff --git a/src/shared/util.c b/src/shared/util.c
index e0156868ad..ed9b56e18e 100644
--- a/src/shared/util.c
+++ b/src/shared/util.c
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@
 
 int saved_argc = 0;
 char **saved_argv = NULL;
-int parsed_columns = 0;
+
+static int parsed_columns = 0;
 
 size_t page_size(void) {
         static __thread size_t pgsz = 0;