diff --git a/include/SDL3/SDL_begin_code.h b/include/SDL3/SDL_begin_code.h
index e6e3c689a5..675cd7f098 100644
--- a/include/SDL3/SDL_begin_code.h
+++ b/include/SDL3/SDL_begin_code.h
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@
 #endif /* SDL_INLINE not defined */
 
 #ifndef SDL_FORCE_INLINE
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) && (_MSC_VER >= 1200)
 #define SDL_FORCE_INLINE __forceinline
 #elif ( (defined(__GNUC__) && (__GNUC__ >= 4)) || defined(__clang__) )
 #define SDL_FORCE_INLINE __attribute__((always_inline)) static __inline__