diff --git a/repos/base-hw/src/lib/base/thread_bootstrap.cc b/repos/base-hw/src/lib/base/thread_bootstrap.cc
index 955dbc0c7..506ae2231 100644
--- a/repos/base-hw/src/lib/base/thread_bootstrap.cc
+++ b/repos/base-hw/src/lib/base/thread_bootstrap.cc
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ void prepare_reinit_main_thread() { prepare_init_main_thread(); }
  ** Thread **
  ************/
 
+/* prevent the compiler from optimizing out the 'this' pointer check */
+__attribute__((optimize("-fno-delete-null-pointer-checks")))
 Native_utcb *Thread::utcb()
 {
 	if (this) { return &_stack->utcb(); }