diff --git a/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h b/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h
index cb1cd428bd5e..e8ee98c7ac89 100644
--- a/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h
+++ b/src/operator/nn/dropout-inl.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 #include "../random/sampler.h"
 #include "../tensor/elemwise_binary_broadcast_op.h"
 
-#if defined(USE_MKL) && defined(_OPENMP) && !defined(__CUDACC__)
+#if (MSHADOW_USE_MKL == 1) && defined(_OPENMP) && !defined(__CUDACC__)
 #define MXNET_USE_MKL_DROPOUT 1
 #endif