diff --git a/src/utils/BuildInfo.cpp b/src/utils/BuildInfo.cpp
index 05b002e7cfc773bfc600a191811356c25890ccd5..8a02d93a3e9656307eda1bb602e2df93fb3adc08 100644
--- a/src/utils/BuildInfo.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/BuildInfo.cpp
@@ -82,7 +82,13 @@ std::string
 BuildInfo::hdf5Library()
 {
 #ifdef PUGS_HAS_HDF5
-  return stringify(H5_VERSION) + ((H5_HAVE_PARALLEL) ? " [parallel]" : " [sequential]");
+
+#ifdef H5_HAVE_PARALLEL
+  return stringify(H5_VERSION) + " [parallel]";
+#else
+  return stringify(H5_VERSION) + " [sequential]";
+#endif   // H5_HAVE_PARALLEL
+
 #else
   return "none";
 #endif   // PUGS_HAS_HDF5