diff --git a/src/compiler/scanner.ts b/src/compiler/scanner.ts
index b3ed4caf4c1..e3479e27152 100644
--- a/src/compiler/scanner.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/scanner.ts
@@ -811,7 +811,6 @@ module ts {
         }
         
         function scanExtendedUnicodeEscape(): string {
-            var hexStartPos = pos;
             var escapedValue = scanMinimumNumberOfHexDigits(1);
             var isInvalidExtendedEscape = false;