diff --git a/lib/SimpleSAML/Configuration.php b/lib/SimpleSAML/Configuration.php
index 22ca6ad23756ca43f8da642fec1d04839ad0495b..544728fd2c6eea03de6d4385e7b6a00247c05e10 100644
--- a/lib/SimpleSAML/Configuration.php
+++ b/lib/SimpleSAML/Configuration.php
@@ -115,7 +115,6 @@ class SimpleSAML_Configuration
             return self::$loadedConfigs[$filename];
         }
 
-        $spurious_output = false;
         if (file_exists($filename)) {
             $config = 'UNINITIALIZED';