diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 8cc9293e26..c5ab683d5b 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ static char *prepare_index(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix, int
 	 * (B) on failure, rollback the real index.
 	 */
 	if (all || (also && pathspec && *pathspec)) {
-		int fd = hold_locked_index(&index_lock, 1);
+		fd = hold_locked_index(&index_lock, 1);
 		add_files_to_cache(also ? prefix : NULL, pathspec, 0);
 		refresh_cache_or_die(refresh_flags);
 		if (write_cache(fd, active_cache, active_nr) ||