diff --git a/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerImpl.java b/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerImpl.java
index 3ae75fb..a59ad1b 100644
--- a/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerImpl.java
+++ b/src/org/apache/xalan/transformer/TransformerImpl.java
@@ -1177,7 +1177,6 @@
       else if (outputTarget instanceof StreamResult)
       {
         StreamResult sresult = (StreamResult) outputTarget;
-        String method = format.getProperty(OutputKeys.METHOD);
 
         try
         {