diff --git a/eclass/java-ant-2.eclass b/eclass/java-ant-2.eclass
index 3b4a71a402edf..ee7aa39ddea0b 100644
--- a/eclass/java-ant-2.eclass
+++ b/eclass/java-ant-2.eclass
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@ if [[ -z "${JAVA_ANT_DISABLE_ANT_CORE_DEP}" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # add ant tasks specified in WANT_ANT_TASKS to DEPEND
-local ANT_TASKS_DEPEND;
 ANT_TASKS_DEPEND="$(java-pkg_ant-tasks-depend)"
 # check that java-pkg_ant-tasks-depend didn't fail
 if [[ $? != 0 ]]; then