diff --git a/src/core/deprecated.h b/src/core/deprecated.h
index 63ff10f95..d62bd3172 100644
--- a/src/core/deprecated.h
+++ b/src/core/deprecated.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef NS3_DEPRECATED_H
 #define NS3_DEPRECATED_H
 
-#ifdef __GNUC__
+#if defined(__GNUC__) && (__GNUC__ == 4) && (__GNUC_MINOR__ > 1)
 #define NS_DEPRECATED __attribute__ ((deprecated))
 #else
 #define NS_DEPRECATED