diff --git a/src/exec.cpp b/src/exec.cpp
index a17291cda..746769dbd 100644
--- a/src/exec.cpp
+++ b/src/exec.cpp
@@ -1152,7 +1152,6 @@ static int exec_subshell_internal(const wcstring &cmd, parser_t &parser, wcstrin
     size_t read_limit = is_subcmd ? read_byte_limit : 0;
     std::shared_ptr<io_buffer_t> buffer;
     if (auto bufferfill = io_bufferfill_t::create(io_chain_t{}, read_limit)) {
-        parser_t &parser = parser_t::principal_parser();
         if (parser.eval(cmd, io_chain_t{bufferfill}, SUBST) == 0) {
             subcommand_statuses = proc_get_last_statuses();
         }