diff --git a/corsika/detail/modules/sibyll/NuclearInteraction.inl b/corsika/detail/modules/sibyll/NuclearInteraction.inl
index 4470ea28a8b1e2f504711346790b67bf2342370e..52296fbd423199e5398e45d0e72ed53ae2e01622 100644
--- a/corsika/detail/modules/sibyll/NuclearInteraction.inl
+++ b/corsika/detail/modules/sibyll/NuclearInteraction.inl
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ namespace corsika::sibyll {
     pTotLab += pTarget;
     auto const pTotLabNorm = pTotLab.getNorm();
     // calculate cm. energy
-    HEPEnergyType const ECoM = sqrt(
+    [[maybe_unused]] HEPEnergyType const ECoM = sqrt(
         (Elab + pTotLabNorm) * (Elab - pTotLabNorm)); // binomial for numerical accuracy
     auto const ECoMNN = sqrt(2. * ElabNuc * constants::nucleonMass);
     CORSIKA_LOG_DEBUG(