diff --git a/t/helper/test-date.c b/t/helper/test-date.c
index deb5869343..099eff4f0f 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-date.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-date.c
@@ -104,7 +104,6 @@ static void getnanos(const char **argv)
 int cmd__date(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	const char *x;
-	x = getenv("GIT_TEST_DATE_NOW");
 
 	argv++;
 	if (!*argv)