diff --git a/lisp/faces.el b/lisp/faces.el
index 3ea4c940a32..10675563ea2 100644
--- a/lisp/faces.el
+++ b/lisp/faces.el
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 
 ;;; Code:
 
+(eval-when-compile (require 'subr-x))
+
 (defcustom term-file-prefix (purecopy "term/")
   "If non-nil, Emacs startup performs terminal-specific initialization.
 It does this by: (load (concat term-file-prefix (getenv \"TERM\")))