diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx
index 602d67804..3d79357ec 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalVisualStudio7Generator.cxx
@@ -773,7 +773,6 @@ void cmGlobalVisualStudio7Generator::WriteExternalProject(std::ostream& fout,
                                const char* typeGuid,
                                const std::set<std::string>&)
 {
-  std::string d = cmSystemTools::ConvertToOutputPath(location);
   fout << "Project("
        << "\"{"
        << (typeGuid ? typeGuid : this->ExternalProjectType(location))