diff --git a/src/variable.cpp b/src/variable.cpp
index 783ceab832..81f0bdcfd6 100644
--- a/src/variable.cpp
+++ b/src/variable.cpp
@@ -1052,7 +1052,7 @@ char *Variable::retrieve(const char *name)
     if (vecs[ivar].dynamic || vecs[ivar].currentstep != update->ntimestep) {
       eval_in_progress[ivar] = 0;
       double *result;
-      int nvec = compute_vector(ivar,&result);
+      compute_vector(ivar,&result);
       delete[] data[ivar][1];
       std::vector <double> vectmp(vecs[ivar].values,vecs[ivar].values + vecs[ivar].n);
       std::string str = fmt::format("[{}]", fmt::join(vectmp,","));