diff --git a/cobc/ChangeLog b/cobc/ChangeLog
index 369fb3449..66d89fc6a 100644
--- a/cobc/ChangeLog
+++ b/cobc/ChangeLog
@@ -1004,6 +1004,7 @@
 	  later on
 	* cobc.c (process_command_line), flag.def: -g now implies the recently
 	  added flags -fgen-c-line-directives and -fgen-c-labels
+	* codegen.c: output "cob_nop ();" instead of ";" for not-optimized "no op"
 
 2020-11-27  Ron Norman <rjn@inglenet.com>
 
diff --git a/cobc/codegen.c b/cobc/codegen.c
index 257f6d739..f662ecc41 100644
--- a/cobc/codegen.c
+++ b/cobc/codegen.c
@@ -8764,7 +8764,7 @@ output_line_and_trace_info (cb_tree x, const enum cob_statement stmnt)
 			output_line ("if ((module->flag_debug_trace & COB_MODULE_READYTRACE))");
 			output_line ("   cob_trace_statement (%s);", stmnt_enum);
 		} else if (cb_flag_c_line_directives) {
-			output_line (";");
+			output_line ("cob_nop ();");
 			output_c_info ();
 		}
 	} else {