diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index e862ab789..f64c3c2f1 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ class CompilationDatabase:
         except FileNotFoundError:
             compilation_database = []
         compilation_database = {
-            CompileKey(k['file'], k.get('output')): k['arguments'] for k in compilation_database
+            CompileKey(k['file'], k['output']): k['arguments'] for k in compilation_database
         }
         self.db = compilation_database
         return self