diff --git a/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerIdentityImpl.java b/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerIdentityImpl.java
index 2a44d2f..9603075 100644
--- a/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerIdentityImpl.java
+++ b/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerIdentityImpl.java
@@ -254,7 +254,6 @@
     else if (outputTarget instanceof StreamResult)
     {
       StreamResult sresult = (StreamResult) outputTarget;
-      String method = m_outputFormat.getProperty(OutputKeys.METHOD);
 
       try
       {