diff --git a/rtc_linux.c b/rtc_linux.c
index 9fe0ffb..6e1771b 100644
--- a/rtc_linux.c
+++ b/rtc_linux.c
@@ -753,7 +753,6 @@ read_from_device(void *any)
     /* This looks like a bad error : the file descriptor was indicating it was
      * ready to read but we couldn't read anything.  Give up. */
     LOG(LOGS_ERR, LOGF_RtcLinux, "Could not read flags %s : %s", CNF_GetRtcDevice(), strerror(errno));
-    error = 1;
     SCH_RemoveInputFileHandler(fd);
     switch_interrupts(0); /* Likely to raise error too, but just to be sure... */
     close(fd);