diff --git a/src/atom.cpp b/src/atom.cpp
index 9a9e5bb48b..1ed28507ad 100644
--- a/src/atom.cpp
+++ b/src/atom.cpp
@@ -603,8 +603,7 @@ void Atom::add_peratom(const char *name, void *address,
 
 void Atom::add_peratom_change_columns(const char *name, int cols)
 {
-  int i;
-  for (i = 0; i < nperatom; i++) {
+  for (int i = 0; i < nperatom; i++) {
     if (strcmp(name,peratom[i].name) == 0) {
             peratom[i].cols = cols;
             return;