diff --git a/tests/test_reference_runs/test_pre_deployment.py b/tests/test_reference_runs/test_pre_deployment.py
index 4df31e1870e3dd5f73ade8d9507a7b55b81fec30..349fdc286d853f9d671185efd265cad553f3fa8a 100644
--- a/tests/test_reference_runs/test_pre_deployment.py
+++ b/tests/test_reference_runs/test_pre_deployment.py
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ def validate_file(
     exclude_dsets: set,
     test_file: str,
 ) -> ComparisonResult:
-    res = ComparisonResult(test_file, [], [], [])
     ref_file = ref_folder / test_file
     out_file = out_folder / test_file
     with h5py.File(ref_file) as fref, h5py.File(out_file) as fout: