diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index ba5ad65..6cf59a3 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #28480: Fix error building _sqlite3 module when multithreading is
+  disabled.
+
 - Issue #24452: Make webbrowser support Chrome on Mac OS X.
 
 - Issue #26293: Fixed writing ZIP files that starts not from the start of the
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
index e62e4d9..237d6e4 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
@@ -790,6 +790,7 @@
     }
 
 error:
+    ;  /* necessary for --without-threads flag */
 #ifdef WITH_THREAD
     PyGILState_Release(threadstate);
 #endif