diff --git a/src/msw/mimetype.cpp b/src/msw/mimetype.cpp
index 7d09acec8b..e499d2b960 100644
--- a/src/msw/mimetype.cpp
+++ b/src/msw/mimetype.cpp
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ wxString wxFileTypeImpl::GetCommand(const wxChar *verb) const
                 }
             }
 
+#if wxUSE_DDE
             // look whether we must issue some DDE requests to the application
             // (and not just launch it)
             strKey += _T("\\DDEExec");
@@ -155,7 +156,9 @@ wxString wxFileTypeImpl::GetCommand(const wxChar *verb) const
                         << _T('#') << ddeTopic
                         << _T('#') << ddeCommand;
             }
-            else if ( !foundFilename ) {
+            else
+#endif // wxUSE_DDE
+                if ( !foundFilename ) {
                 // we didn't find any '%1' - the application doesn't know which
                 // file to open (note that we only do it if there is no DDEExec
                 // subkey)