diff --git a/src/sage/libs/gap/element.pyx b/src/sage/libs/gap/element.pyx
index b2b0681c052..b2e5807392c 100644
--- a/src/sage/libs/gap/element.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/libs/gap/element.pyx
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ from sage.structure.coerce cimport coercion_model as cm
 ### helper functions to construct lists and records ########################
 ############################################################################
 
+
+cdef extern from *:
+    """
+    #pragma GCC optimize("O1")
+    """
+
+
 cdef Obj make_gap_list(sage_list) except NULL:
     """
     Convert Sage lists into Gap lists