diff --git a/src/libfreeswan/datatot.c b/src/libfreeswan/datatot.c
index 3e2aed76d..e3b9d6417 100644
--- a/src/libfreeswan/datatot.c
+++ b/src/libfreeswan/datatot.c
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ size_t dstlen;
 		prefix = "0x";
 		break;
 	case ':':
-		format = 'x';
 		breakevery = 2;
 		breakchar = ':';
 		/* FALLTHROUGH */