diff --git a/libavcodec/bitstream.c b/libavcodec/bitstream.c
index 1a346266ec..99119cdcfa 100644
--- a/libavcodec/bitstream.c
+++ b/libavcodec/bitstream.c
@@ -108,7 +108,6 @@ static int alloc_table(VLC *vlc, int size, int use_static)
 
     vlc->table_size += size;
     if (vlc->table_size > vlc->table_allocated) {
-        int err;
         if (use_static)
             abort(); // cannot do anything, init_vlc() is used with too little memory
         vlc->table_allocated += (1 << vlc->bits);