diff --git a/libtransmission/rpc-server.c b/libtransmission/rpc-server.c
index 0a8f3cce0..1c55e4da6 100644
--- a/libtransmission/rpc-server.c
+++ b/libtransmission/rpc-server.c
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ serve_file( struct evhttp_request * req,
     {
         void * file;
         size_t file_len;
-        struct evbuffer * content = evbuffer_new( );
+        struct evbuffer * content;
         const int error = errno;
 
         errno = 0;