diff --git a/gnu/packages/databases.scm b/gnu/packages/databases.scm
index ee28a4cf99..6676950a4d 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/databases.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/databases.scm
@@ -113,6 +113,9 @@ (define-public bdb
                       (string-append "CONFIG_SHELL=" (which "bash"))
                       (string-append "SHELL=" (which "bash"))
 
+                      ;; Remove 7 MiB of .a files.
+                      "--disable-static"
+
                       ;; The compatibility mode is needed by some packages,
                       ;; notably iproute2.
                       "--enable-compat185"