diff --git a/lib/std/debug/simple_panic.zig b/lib/std/debug/simple_panic.zig
index 8453aadbb985766f749199c0bac617cb858afe04..60c64324405ea53bba07374fc1d8ac8fbdebfb68 100644
--- a/lib/std/debug/simple_panic.zig
+++ b/lib/std/debug/simple_panic.zig
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ pub fn invalidErrorCode() noreturn {
 
 pub fn unexpectedErrorCode(err: anyerror) noreturn {
     @branchHint(.cold);
-    _ = err;
+    _ = &err;
     call("unexpected error code", null);
 }
 
diff --git a/test/cases/std_debug_no_panic.zig b/test/cases/std_debug_no_panic.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..63b8183d51a072c1a286f1fd13f10ea26b9374ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cases/std_debug_no_panic.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+
+pub const panic = std.debug.no_panic;
+
+pub fn main() void {
+    @panic("this makes the compiler reference the panic namespace");
+}
+
+// compile
diff --git a/test/cases/std_debug_simple_panic.zig b/test/cases/std_debug_simple_panic.zig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3655fd7e4d048d05926aa63e2d30206fce018e11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cases/std_debug_simple_panic.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const std = @import("std");
+
+pub const panic = std.debug.simple_panic;
+
+pub fn main() void {
+    @panic("this makes the compiler reference the panic namespace");
+}
+
+// compile