diff --git a/modules/mod_tags_popular/tmpl/default.php b/modules/mod_tags_popular/tmpl/default.php
index c8f0d6512b891..0da819c8b2563 100644
--- a/modules/mod_tags_popular/tmpl/default.php
+++ b/modules/mod_tags_popular/tmpl/default.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 <?php else : ?>
 	<ul>
 	<?php foreach ($list as $item) : ?>
-	<li><?php $route = new TagsHelperRoute; ?>
+	<li>
 		<a href="<?php echo JRoute::_(TagsHelperRoute::getTagRoute($item->tag_id . '-' . $item->alias)); ?>">
 			<?php echo htmlspecialchars($item->title, ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8'); ?></a>
 		<?php if ($display_count) : ?>