diff --git a/bin/dig/nslookup.c b/bin/dig/nslookup.c
index 95c0767365..d5ce6f7900 100644
--- a/bin/dig/nslookup.c
+++ b/bin/dig/nslookup.c
@@ -621,8 +621,6 @@ static void
 setoption(char *opt) {
 	size_t l = strlen(opt);
 
-	debugging = true;
-
 #define CHECKOPT(A, N) \
 	((l >= N) && (l < sizeof(A)) && (strncasecmp(opt, A, l) == 0))