diff --git a/src/detect-ssl-version.c b/src/detect-ssl-version.c
index 71d3c8346d..1711a5cb25 100644
--- a/src/detect-ssl-version.c
+++ b/src/detect-ssl-version.c
@@ -268,7 +268,6 @@ DetectSslVersionData *DetectSslVersionParse(char *str)
                 break;
             } else {
                 SCLogError(SC_ERR_INVALID_VALUE, "Invalid value");
-                neg = 0;
                 SCFree(orig);
                 goto error;
             }