diff --git a/mm/sparse.c b/mm/sparse.c
index 1c91f0d3f6ab..9ac2f743f723 100644
--- a/mm/sparse.c
+++ b/mm/sparse.c
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ static int __meminit sparse_index_init(unsigned long section_nr, int nid)
 {
 	unsigned long root = SECTION_NR_TO_ROOT(section_nr);
 	struct mem_section *section;
-	int ret = 0;
 
 	if (mem_section[root])
 		return -EEXIST;
@@ -90,7 +89,7 @@ static int __meminit sparse_index_init(unsigned long section_nr, int nid)
 
 	mem_section[root] = section;
 
-	return ret;
+	return 0;
 }
 #else /* !SPARSEMEM_EXTREME */
 static inline int sparse_index_init(unsigned long section_nr, int nid)