diff --git a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-macros-internal.h b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-macros-internal.h
index 9292f3699d..09f96ef6ba 100644
--- a/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-macros-internal.h
+++ b/shared/nm-glib-aux/nm-macros-internal.h
@@ -1262,6 +1262,14 @@ nm_clear_g_cancellable_disconnect (GCancellable *cancellable, gulong *cancellabl
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
 
+/* GVariantType is basically a C string. But G_VARIANT_TYPE() is not suitable
+ * to initialize a static variable (because it evaluates a function check that
+ * the string is valid). Add an alternative macro that does the plain cast.
+ *
+ * Here you loose the assertion check that G_VARIANT_TYPE() to ensure the
+ * string is valid. */
+#define NM_G_VARIANT_TYPE(fmt) ((const GVariantType *) (""fmt""))
+
 static inline GVariant *
 nm_g_variant_ref (GVariant *v)
 {