diff --git a/encoding.c b/encoding.c
index cdff6ae..5e50c15 100644
--- a/encoding.c
+++ b/encoding.c
@@ -2629,7 +2629,6 @@
     int written;
     int writtentot = 0;
     int toconv;
-    int output = 0;
 
     if (handler == NULL) return(-1);
     if (out == NULL) return(-1);
@@ -2682,8 +2681,6 @@
         ret = -3;
     }
 
-    if (ret >= 0) output += ret;
-
     /*
      * Attempt to handle error cases
      */