diff --git a/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_history_write.F90 b/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_history_write.F90
index f39183954..92df8dad8 100644
--- a/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_history_write.F90
+++ b/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_history_write.F90
@@ -153,20 +153,25 @@ subroutine ice_write_hist (ns)
            iflag = nf90_clobber
          elseif (history_format == 'cdf2') then
 #ifdef NO_CDF2
-           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format cdf2 not available '//trim(history_format), &
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format cdf2 not available ', &
               file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
 #else
            iflag = ior(nf90_clobber,nf90_64bit_offset)
 #endif
          elseif (history_format == 'cdf5') then
 #ifdef NO_CDF5
-           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format cdf5 not available '//trim(history_format), &
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format cdf5 not available ', &
               file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
 #else
            iflag = ior(nf90_clobber,nf90_64bit_data)
 #endif
          elseif (history_format == 'hdf5') then
+#ifdef NO_HDF5
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format hdf5 not available ', &
+              file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
+#else
            iflag = ior(nf90_clobber,nf90_netcdf4)
+#endif
          else
            call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format not allowed for '//trim(history_format), &
               file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
@@ -1202,6 +1207,12 @@ subroutine ice_hist_field_def(ncid, hfield, lprecision, dimids, ns)
       status = nf90_def_var(ncid, hfield%vname, lprecision, dimids, varid)
       call ice_check_nc(status, subname//' ERROR: defining var '//trim(hfield%vname),file=__FILE__,line=__LINE__)
 
+#ifdef NO_HDF5
+      if (history_format=='hdf5') then
+          call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format hdf5 not available ', &
+              file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
+      endif
+#else
       if (history_format=='hdf5' .and. size(dimids)>1) then
          if (dimids(1)==imtid .and. dimids(2)==jmtid) then
             chunks(1)=history_chunksize(1)
@@ -1218,6 +1229,7 @@ subroutine ice_hist_field_def(ncid, hfield, lprecision, dimids, ns)
          status = nf90_def_var_deflate(ncid, varid, shuffle=0, deflate=1, deflate_level=history_deflate)
          call ice_check_nc(status, subname//' ERROR deflating var '//trim(hfield%vname), file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
       endif
+#endif
 
       ! add attributes
       status = nf90_put_att(ncid,varid,'units', hfield%vunit)
@@ -1345,6 +1357,12 @@ subroutine ice_hist_coord_def(ncid, coord, lprecision, dimids, varid)
       status = nf90_def_var(ncid, coord%short_name, lprecision, dimids, varid)
       call ice_check_nc(status, subname//' ERROR: defining coord '//coord%short_name,file=__FILE__,line=__LINE__)
 
+#ifdef NO_HDF5
+      if (history_format=='hdf5') then
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: history_format hdf5 not available ', &
+              file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
+      endif
+#else
       if (history_format=='hdf5' .and. size(dimids)>1) then
          if (dimids(1)==imtid .and. dimids(2)==jmtid) then
             chunks(1)=history_chunksize(1)
@@ -1361,6 +1379,7 @@ subroutine ice_hist_coord_def(ncid, coord, lprecision, dimids, varid)
          status=nf90_def_var_deflate(ncid, varid, shuffle=0, deflate=1, deflate_level=history_deflate)
          call ice_check_nc(status, subname//' ERROR deflating var '//trim(coord%short_name), file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
       endif
+#endif
 
       status = nf90_put_att(ncid,varid,'long_name',trim(coord%long_name))
       call ice_check_nc(status, subname// ' ERROR: defining long_name for '//coord%short_name, &
diff --git a/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_restart.F90 b/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_restart.F90
index 3624d4931..9bf3b1d8a 100644
--- a/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_restart.F90
+++ b/cicecore/cicedyn/infrastructure/io/io_netcdf/ice_restart.F90
@@ -222,20 +222,25 @@ subroutine init_restart_write(filename_spec)
            iflag = nf90_clobber
          elseif (restart_format == 'cdf2') then
 #ifdef NO_CDF2
-           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format cdf2 not available '//trim(restart_format), &
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format cdf2 not available ', &
               file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
 #else
            iflag = ior(nf90_clobber,nf90_64bit_offset)
 #endif
          elseif (restart_format == 'cdf5') then
 #ifdef NO_CDF5
-           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format cdf5 not available '//trim(restart_format), &
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format cdf5 not available ', &
               file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
 #else
            iflag = ior(nf90_clobber,nf90_64bit_data)
 #endif
          elseif (restart_format == 'hdf5') then
+#ifdef NO_HDF5
+           call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format hdf5 not available ', &
+              file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
+#else
            iflag = ior(nf90_clobber,nf90_netcdf4)
+#endif
          else
            call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format not allowed for '//trim(restart_format), &
               file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
@@ -904,6 +909,12 @@ subroutine define_rest_field(ncid, vname, dims)
       status = nf90_def_var(ncid,trim(vname),nf90_double,dims,varid)
       call ice_check_nc(status, subname//' ERROR: def var '//trim(vname), file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
 
+#ifdef NO_HDF5
+      if (restart_format=='hdf5') then
+         call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: restart_format hdf5 not available ', &
+            file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
+      endif
+#else
       if (restart_format=='hdf5' .and. size(dims)>1) then
          if (dims(1)==dimid_ni .and. dims(2)==dimid_nj) then
             chunks(1)=restart_chunksize(1)
@@ -920,6 +931,7 @@ subroutine define_rest_field(ncid, vname, dims)
          status=nf90_def_var_deflate(ncid, varid, shuffle=0, deflate=1, deflate_level=restart_deflate)
          call ice_check_nc(status, subname//' ERROR deflating var '//trim(vname), file=__FILE__, line=__LINE__)
       endif
+#endif
 
 #else
       call abort_ice(subname//' ERROR: USE_NETCDF cpp not defined', &
diff --git a/configuration/scripts/machines/Macros.compy_intel b/configuration/scripts/machines/Macros.compy_intel
index 604337f59..eabdbc00a 100644
--- a/configuration/scripts/machines/Macros.compy_intel
+++ b/configuration/scripts/machines/Macros.compy_intel
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #==============================================================================
 
 CPP        := fpp
-CPPDEFS    := -DFORTRANUNDERSCORE ${ICE_CPPDEFS}
+CPPDEFS    := -DFORTRANUNDERSCORE -DNO_HDF5 ${ICE_CPPDEFS}
 CFLAGS     := -c -O2 -fp-model precise   -xHost
 
 FIXEDFLAGS := -132