diff --git a/include/hamlib/rig.h b/include/hamlib/rig.h
index 424f404e0..81d5088e2 100644
--- a/include/hamlib/rig.h
+++ b/include/hamlib/rig.h
@@ -2629,7 +2629,7 @@ struct rig_state {
     char client_version[32];  /*!<! Allow client to report version for compatibility checks/capability */
     freq_t offset_vfoa; /*!< Offset to apply to VFOA/Main set_freq */
     freq_t offset_vfob; /*!< Offset to apply to VFOB/Sub set_freq */
-    struct multicast_s *multicast; /*!< Pointer to multicast server data */
+//    struct multicast_s *multicast; /*!< Pointer to multicast server data */
 };
 
 //! @cond Doxygen_Suppress
diff --git a/src/multicast.c b/src/multicast.c
index de834c7e1..b4b62e2c4 100644
--- a/src/multicast.c
+++ b/src/multicast.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #endif
 #include "hamlib/rig.h"
 #include "misc.h"
+#if 0
 #include "multicast.h"
 
 #define RIG_MULTICAST_ADDR "224.0.0.1"
@@ -524,3 +525,4 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     return 0;
 }
 #endif
+#endif
diff --git a/src/rig.c b/src/rig.c
index 8fa59756c..33cbb8226 100644
--- a/src/rig.c
+++ b/src/rig.c
@@ -7599,6 +7599,7 @@ HAMLIB_EXPORT(void) sync_callback(int lock)
 void rig_lock(RIG *rig, int lock)
 {
 #ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD
+#if 0 //MULTICAST disabled as it breaks the DLL backwards compatibility
 
     if (rig->state.multicast == NULL) { return; } // not initialized yet
 
@@ -7620,6 +7621,7 @@ void rig_lock(RIG *rig, int lock)
     }
 
 #endif
+#endif
 
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/rigtestmcast.c b/tests/rigtestmcast.c
index fe87a8512..0ea3d0ef6 100644
--- a/tests/rigtestmcast.c
+++ b/tests/rigtestmcast.c
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 #endif
     rig->state.rigport.parm.serial.rate = 38400;
     rig_open(rig);
-    multicast_init(rig, "224.0.0.1", 4532);
-    printf("threadid=%lld\n", (long long)rig->state.multicast->threadid);
-    pthread_join(rig->state.multicast->threadid, NULL);
+//    multicast_init(rig, "224.0.0.1", 4532);
+    //printf("threadid=%lld\n", (long long)rig->state.multicast->threadid);
+    //pthread_join(rig->state.multicast->threadid, NULL);
     pthread_exit(NULL);
     return 0;
 }