diff --git a/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h
index bab8b9fb49f..1853aa17dbc 100644
--- a/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h
+++ b/sys/geom/eli/g_eli.h
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ eli_metadata_dump(const struct g_eli_metadata *md)
 }
 
 #ifdef _KERNEL
-static bool
+static __inline bool
 eli_metadata_crypto_supported(const struct g_eli_metadata *md)
 {