diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index c47ee7ef..7d80181f 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -58,3 +58,6 @@ The AMDGPU driver requires the `amdgpu.ids` file. It is usually located at
 paths at runtime by setting the `AMDGPU_ASIC_ID_TABLE_PATHS` environment
 variable with one or more colon-separated paths where to search for the
 `amdgpu.ids` file.
+
+For this option to be available, the C library must support secure_getenv()
+function. In systems without it (like NetBSD), this option won't be available.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/amdgpu/amdgpu_asic_id.c b/amdgpu/amdgpu_asic_id.c
index 6ca37cd1..cd8ee596 100644
--- a/amdgpu/amdgpu_asic_id.c
+++ b/amdgpu/amdgpu_asic_id.c
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ static void amdgpu_parse_proc_cpuinfo(struct amdgpu_device *dev)
 	fclose(fp);
 }
 
+#if HAVE_SECURE_GETENV
 static char *join_path(const char *dir, const char *file) {
 	size_t dir_len = strlen(dir);
 	size_t file_len = strlen(file);
@@ -268,6 +269,7 @@ static char *find_asic_id_table(void)
 	split_env_var_free(paths);
 	return found_path;
 }
+#endif
 
 void amdgpu_parse_asic_ids(struct amdgpu_device *dev)
 {
@@ -278,8 +280,12 @@ void amdgpu_parse_asic_ids(struct amdgpu_device *dev)
 	int line_num = 1;
 	int r = 0;
 
-	char *amdgpu_asic_id_table_path = find_asic_id_table();
-
+	char *amdgpu_asic_id_table_path = NULL;
+#if HAVE_SECURE_GETENV
+	// if this system lacks secure_getenv(), don't allow extra paths
+	// for security reasons.
+	amdgpu_asic_id_table_path = find_asic_id_table();
+#endif
 	// if not found, use the default AMDGPU_ASIC_ID_TABLE path
 	if (!amdgpu_asic_id_table_path)
 		amdgpu_asic_id_table_path = strdup(AMDGPU_ASIC_ID_TABLE);
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 0ea09e15..e567a0ac 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ dep_threads = dependency('threads')
 
 cc = meson.get_compiler('c')
 
+config.set10('HAVE_SECURE_GETENV', cc.has_function('secure_getenv'))
+
 android = cc.compiles('''int func() { return __ANDROID__; }''')
 
 # Solaris / Illumos