diff --git a/base/interactiveutil.jl b/base/interactiveutil.jl
index 1d569265a3773..12663bb92363a 100644
--- a/base/interactiveutil.jl
+++ b/base/interactiveutil.jl
@@ -61,9 +61,10 @@ function edit(path::AbstractString, line::Integer=0)
     end
 
     if is_windows() && name == "open"
-        systemerror(:edit, ccall((:ShellExecuteW,"shell32"), stdcall, Int,
-                                 (Ptr{Void}, Cwstring, Cwstring, Ptr{Void}, Ptr{Void}, Cint),
-                                 C_NULL, "open", path, C_NULL, C_NULL, 10) ≤ 32)
+        @static is_windows() && # don't emit this ccall on other platforms
+            systemerror(:edit, ccall((:ShellExecuteW, "shell32"), stdcall, Int,
+                                     (Ptr{Void}, Cwstring, Cwstring, Ptr{Void}, Ptr{Void}, Cint),
+                                     C_NULL, "open", path, C_NULL, C_NULL, 10) ≤ 32)
     elseif background
         spawn(pipeline(cmd, stderr=STDERR))
     else