diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/SaxonXPathRuleQuery.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/SaxonXPathRuleQuery.java
index 23b03405d0..a00ce1cb3e 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/SaxonXPathRuleQuery.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/rule/xpath/SaxonXPathRuleQuery.java
@@ -104,8 +104,6 @@ public class SaxonXPathRuleQuery extends AbstractXPathRuleQuery {
 		}
 	    }
 
-	    Expression expression = xpathExpression.getInternalExpression();
-
 	    List<ElementNode> nodes = xpathExpression.evaluate(xpathDynamicContext);
 	    for (ElementNode elementNode : nodes) {
 		results.add((Node) elementNode.getUnderlyingNode());