diff --git a/test/SerialIOTest.cpp b/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
index d9dc814884..94d7ebbf27 100644
--- a/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
+++ b/test/SerialIOTest.cpp
@@ -7279,7 +7279,14 @@ void joined_dim(std::string const &ext)
 
 TEST_CASE("joined_dim", "[serial]")
 {
+#if 100000000 * ADIOS2_VERSION_MAJOR + 1000000 * ADIOS2_VERSION_MINOR +        \
+        10000 * ADIOS2_VERSION_PATCH + 100 * ADIOS2_VERSION_TWEAK >=           \
+    209000000
     constexpr char const *supportsJoinedDims[] = {"bp", "bp4", "bp5"};
+#else
+    // no zero-size arrays
+    std::vector<std::string> supportsJoinedDims;
+#endif
     for (auto const &t : testedFileExtensions())
     {
         for (auto const supported : supportsJoinedDims)