diff --git a/cddl/lib/libnvpair/Makefile b/cddl/lib/libnvpair/Makefile
index bd159fc856aa..630410d30c36 100644
--- a/cddl/lib/libnvpair/Makefile
+++ b/cddl/lib/libnvpair/Makefile
@@ -21,4 +21,13 @@ CFLAGS+= -I${.CURDIR}/../../../sys
 CFLAGS+= -I${.CURDIR}/../../../cddl/contrib/opensolaris/head
 CFLAGS+= -I${.CURDIR}/../../../cddl/compat/opensolaris/lib/libumem
 
+# This library uses macros to define fprintf behvavior for several object types
+# The compiler will see the non-string literal arguments to the fprintf calls and
+# omit warnings for them. Quiese these warnings in contrib code: 
+#
+# cddl/contrib/opensolaris/lib/libnvpair/libnvpair.c:743:12: warning: format
+#   string is not a string literal (potentially insecure) [-Wformat-security]
+#    ARENDER(pctl, nvlist_array, nvl, name, val, nelem);
+#
+CFLAGS+= -Wno-format-security
 .include <bsd.lib.mk>