diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index cabf1166ac..05ba6a15c2 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2252,7 +2252,8 @@ def nvcc_compile(nvcc_cmd):
 
 add_data_files(CUDA_BIN, ["fs/share/xpra/cuda/README.md"])
 
-tace(nvenc_ENABLED, "xpra.codecs.nvenc.encoder", "nvenc")
+tace(nvenc_ENABLED, "xpra.codecs.nvenc.encoder", "nvenc",
+     extra_compile_args="-Wno-error=sign-compare" if get_gcc_version()<(8, ) else "")
 
 toggle_packages(argb_ENABLED, "xpra.codecs.argb")
 tace(argb_ENABLED, "xpra.codecs.argb.argb", optimize=3)