diff --git a/rtgui/batchqueue.cc b/rtgui/batchqueue.cc
index 64b4662e0..7c63fce11 100644
--- a/rtgui/batchqueue.cc
+++ b/rtgui/batchqueue.cc
@@ -680,9 +680,7 @@ rtengine::ProcessingJob* BatchQueue::imageReady (rtengine::IImage16* img)
         auto isEmpty = false;
 
         {
-#if PROTECT_VECTORS
             MYREADERLOCK(l, entryRW);
-#endif
             isEmpty = fd.empty();
         }