diff --git a/linkhash.h b/linkhash.h
index 9c2f5c1..dfdcb13 100644
--- a/linkhash.h
+++ b/linkhash.h
@@ -348,7 +348,10 @@ int lh_table_resize(struct lh_table *t, int new_size);
 /**
  * @deprecated Don't use this outside of linkhash.h:
  */
-#if !defined(_MSC_VER) || (_MSC_VER > 1800)
+/* on AIX, cc doesn't like this */
+#if AIX_CC
+#define _LH_INLINE
+#elif !defined(_MSC_VER) || (_MSC_VER > 1800)
 /* VS2010 can't handle inline funcs, so skip it there */
 #define _LH_INLINE inline
 #else