diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/compiledict.c b/src/libespeak-ng/compiledict.c
index 7fff4858..892705b0 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/compiledict.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/compiledict.c
@@ -1023,8 +1023,6 @@ static char *compile_rule(char *input)
 	p = buf;
 
 	for (ix = 0; finish == 0; ix++) {
-		c = input[ix];
-
 		switch (c = input[ix])
 		{
 		case ')': // end of prefix section