diff --git a/src/smooth/ftgrays.c b/src/smooth/ftgrays.c
index 1e2f7ad8b..6252df98a 100644
--- a/src/smooth/ftgrays.c
+++ b/src/smooth/ftgrays.c
@@ -1006,9 +1006,9 @@ typedef ptrdiff_t  FT_PtrDist;
    *
    * For other cases, using binary splits is actually slightly faster.
    */
-#if defined( __SSE2__ )                          || \
-    defined( __x86_64__ )                        || \
-    defined( _M_AMD64 )                          || \
+#if defined( __SSE2__ )                            || \
+    ( defined( __x86_64__ ) && !defined( __VMS ) ) || \
+    defined( _M_AMD64 )                            || \
     ( defined( _M_IX86_FP ) && _M_IX86_FP >= 2 )
 #  define FT_SSE2 1
 #else