diff --git a/include/bal/helpers.h b/include/bal/helpers.h
index d462856..cb51c45 100644
--- a/include/bal/helpers.h
+++ b/include/bal/helpers.h
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@
 # include "types.h"
 # include "errors.h"
 
+/** Allows a parameter to be unreferenced without compiler warnings. */
+# define BAL_UNUSED(var) (void)(var)
+
 /** Performs a case-insensitive string comparison and returns true if the
  * strings are the same. */
 static inline
@@ -79,9 +82,6 @@ void __bal_safefree(void** pp)
       (void)snprintf(dst, _n, __VA_ARGS__); \
     } while (false)
 
-/** Allows a parameter to be unreferenced without compiler warnings. */
-# define BAL_UNUSED(var) (void)(var)
-
 /** getnameinfo flags: do not perform DNS queries. */
 # define _BAL_NI_NODNS (NI_NUMERICHOST | NI_NUMERICSERV)