diff --git a/src/operator/c_lapack_api.cc b/src/operator/c_lapack_api.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c6293bf8f684
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/operator/c_lapack_api.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+#include "c_lapack_api.h"
+
+#if (MSHADOW_USE_MKL && MXNET_USE_LAPACK)
+#elif MXNET_USE_LAPACK
+#else
+  // use pragma message instead of warning
+  #pragma message("Warning: lapack usage not enabled, linalg-operators will not be available." \
+     " Ensure that lapack library is installed and build with USE_LAPACK=1 to get lapack" \
+     " functionalities.")
+
+  // Define compilable stubs.
+  #define MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(func, dtype) \
+  int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, char uplo, int n, dtype* a, int lda) { \
+    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
+    return 1; \
+  }
+
+  #define MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2(func, dtype) \
+  int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, int m, int n, dtype* a, \
+                                 int lda, dtype* tau, dtype* work, int lwork) { \
+    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
+    return 1; \
+  }
+
+  #define MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3(func, dtype) \
+  int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, char uplo, int n, dtype *a, \
+                                 int lda, dtype *w, dtype *work, int lwork, \
+                                 int *iwork, int liwork) { \
+    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
+    return 1; \
+  }
+
+  #define MXNET_LAPACK_UNAVAILABLE(func) \
+  int mxnet_lapack_##func(...) { \
+    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
+    return 1; \
+  }
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(spotrf, float)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(dpotrf, double)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(spotri, float)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(dpotri, double)
+
+  MXNET_LAPACK_UNAVAILABLE(sposv)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_UNAVAILABLE(dposv)
+
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2(sgelqf, float)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2(dgelqf, double)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2(sorglq, float)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2(dorglq, double)
+
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3(ssyevd, float)
+  MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3(dsyevd, double)
+#endif  // MSHADOW_USE_MKL == 0
diff --git a/src/operator/c_lapack_api.h b/src/operator/c_lapack_api.h
index 46c8b963f429..cd69775547b4 100644
--- a/src/operator/c_lapack_api.h
+++ b/src/operator/c_lapack_api.h
@@ -324,42 +324,26 @@ inline void flip(int m, int n, DType *b, int ldb, DType *a, int lda) {
 
 #else
 
-  // use pragma message instead of warning
-  #pragma message("Warning: lapack usage not enabled, linalg-operators will not be available." \
-     " Ensure that lapack library is installed and build with USE_LAPACK=1 to get lapack" \
-     " functionalities.")
+
 
   #define MXNET_LAPACK_ROW_MAJOR 101
   #define MXNET_LAPACK_COL_MAJOR 102
 
   // Define compilable stubs.
   #define MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(func, dtype) \
-  inline int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, char uplo, int n, dtype* a, int lda) { \
-    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
-    return 1; \
-  }
+  int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, char uplo, int n, dtype* a, int lda);
 
   #define MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2(func, dtype) \
-  inline int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, int m, int n, dtype* a, \
-                                 int lda, dtype* tau, dtype* work, int lwork) { \
-    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
-    return 1; \
-  }
+  int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, int m, int n, dtype* a, \
+                                 int lda, dtype* tau, dtype* work, int lwork);
 
   #define MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3(func, dtype) \
-  inline int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, char uplo, int n, dtype *a, \
+  int MXNET_LAPACK_##func(int matrix_layout, char uplo, int n, dtype *a, \
                                  int lda, dtype *w, dtype *work, int lwork, \
-                                 int *iwork, int liwork) { \
-    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
-    return 1; \
-  }
+                                 int *iwork, int liwork);
 
   #define MXNET_LAPACK_UNAVAILABLE(func) \
-  inline int mxnet_lapack_##func(...) { \
-    LOG(FATAL) << "MXNet build without lapack. Function " << #func << " is not available."; \
-    return 1; \
-  }
-
+  int mxnet_lapack_##func(...);
   MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(spotrf, float)
   MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(dpotrf, double)
   MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1(spotri, float)
@@ -375,7 +359,10 @@ inline void flip(int m, int n, DType *b, int ldb, DType *a, int lda) {
 
   MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3(ssyevd, float)
   MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3(dsyevd, double)
-
+  #undef MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER1
+  #undef MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER2
+  #undef MXNET_LAPACK_CWRAPPER3
+  #undef MXNET_LAPACK_UNAVAILABLE
 #endif
 
 template <typename DType>
diff --git a/tests/cpp/operator/krprod_test.cc b/tests/cpp/operator/krprod_test.cc
index 26c2661bc352..66ddddd771f8 100644
--- a/tests/cpp/operator/krprod_test.cc
+++ b/tests/cpp/operator/krprod_test.cc
@@ -250,6 +250,8 @@ TEST(row_wise_kronecker, FourInputMatrices) {
   FreeSpace(&result);
 }
 
+
+#if MXNET_USE_LAPACK == 1
 TEST(khatri_rao, OneInputMatrix) {
   // Input matrices of shape (2, 4) which is also the expected result
   DType mat[8] {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8};
@@ -444,5 +446,6 @@ TEST(inv_khatri_rao, ThreeInputMatricesTranposed) {
   FreeSpace(&kr_t);
   FreeSpace(&actual_dot);
 }
+#endif  // MXNET_USE_LAPACK == 1
 }  // namespace op
 }  // namespace mxnet