diff --git a/src/bin/psql/psqlscan.h b/src/bin/psql/psqlscan.h
index d515ce34f2..4ff321866f 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/psqlscan.h
+++ b/src/bin/psql/psqlscan.h
@@ -32,7 +32,12 @@ typedef struct PsqlScanCallbacks
 	/* This pointer can be NULL if no variable substitution is wanted */
 	char	   *(*get_variable) (const char *varname, bool escape, bool as_ident);
 	/* Print an error message someplace appropriate */
+	/* (very old gcc versions don't support attributes on function pointers) */
+#if defined(__GNUC__) && __GNUC__ < 4
+	void		(*write_error) (const char *fmt,...);
+#else
 	void		(*write_error) (const char *fmt,...) pg_attribute_printf(1, 2);
+#endif
 } PsqlScanCallbacks;