diff --git a/top/top.c b/top/top.c
index bcd28f78..3d654b76 100644
--- a/top/top.c
+++ b/top/top.c
@@ -2853,7 +2853,9 @@ static void sysinfo_refresh (int forced) {
 #ifndef PRETEND48CPU
       cpuinfo();
 #endif
+#ifndef PRETEND0NUMA
       Numa_node_tot = numa_max_node() + 1;
+#endif
       sav_secs = cur_secs;
    }
 } // end: sysinfo_refresh
@@ -3696,7 +3698,9 @@ static void before (char *me) {
 #endif
 
    numa_init();
+#ifndef PRETEND0NUMA
    Numa_node_tot = numa_max_node() + 1;
+#endif
 
 #ifndef SIGRTMAX       // not available on hurd, maybe others too
 #define SIGRTMAX 32
diff --git a/top/top.h b/top/top.h
index 4b8a9305..94816b73 100644
--- a/top/top.h
+++ b/top/top.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
 //#define OFF_STDERROR            /* disable our stderr buffering (redirect) */
 //#define OFF_STDIOLBF            /* disable our own stdout _IOFBF override  */
 //#define OFF_XTRAWIDE            /* disable our extra wide multi-byte logic */
+//#define PRETEND0NUMA            /* pretend that there ain't any numa nodes */
 //#define PRETEND2_5_X            /* pretend we're linux 2.5.x (for IO-wait) */
 //#define PRETEND48CPU            /* pretend we're smp with 48 ticsers (sic) */
 //#define PRETENDNOCAP            /* use a terminal without essential caps   */