diff --git a/test/testmessage.c b/test/testmessage.c
index 005c47998..f44880c3f 100644
--- a/test/testmessage.c
+++ b/test/testmessage.c
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 #include "SDL.h"
 #include "SDL_thread.h"
 
-static int alive = 0;
-
 /* Call this instead of exit(), so we can clean up SDL: atexit() is evil. */
 static void
 quit(int rc)