diff --git a/sql/sys_vars.cc b/sql/sys_vars.cc
index fa62667b863..af261299496 100644
--- a/sql/sys_vars.cc
+++ b/sql/sys_vars.cc
@@ -839,7 +839,7 @@ static Sys_var_ulong Sys_connect_timeout(
 
 static Sys_var_charptr Sys_datadir(
        "datadir", "Path to the database root directory",
-       PARSED_EARLY READ_ONLY GLOBAL_VAR(mysql_real_data_home_ptr),
+       READ_ONLY GLOBAL_VAR(mysql_real_data_home_ptr),
        CMD_LINE(REQUIRED_ARG, 'h'), IN_FS_CHARSET, DEFAULT(mysql_real_data_home));
 
 #ifndef DBUG_OFF