diff --git a/src/toolsComm/flex/Makefile.Unix b/src/toolsComm/flex/Makefile.Unix
index 6f7c527ef..3ad7c3441 100644
--- a/src/toolsComm/flex/Makefile.Unix
+++ b/src/toolsComm/flex/Makefile.Unix
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ include Target.include
 include $(EPICS)/config/CONFIG_BASE
 
 CMPLR = OLD
+#CMPLR = STRICT
+
 YACC = $(EYACC)
 YACCOPT = -l -d
 
diff --git a/src/toolsComm/flex/flexdef.h b/src/toolsComm/flex/flexdef.h
index 19cf177d4..e6345fba7 100644
--- a/src/toolsComm/flex/flexdef.h
+++ b/src/toolsComm/flex/flexdef.h
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ void *allocate_array(), *reallocate_array();
 #define reallocate_character_array(array,size) \
 	(Char *) reallocate_array( (void *) array, size, sizeof( Char ) )
 
-
+#if 0 /* JRW this might couse truuble... but not for IOC usage */
 /* used to communicate between scanner and parser.  The type should really
  * be YYSTYPE, but we can't easily get our hands on it.
  */
@@ -668,6 +668,7 @@ extern long yylval;
 #else
 extern int yylval;
 #endif
+#endif
 
 
 /* external functions that are cross-referenced among the flex source files */