diff --git a/updateHostsFile.py b/updateHostsFile.py
index 9b202c217..3a382b91a 100644
--- a/updateHostsFile.py
+++ b/updateHostsFile.py
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ def removeDupsAndExcl( mergeFile ):
 def normalizeRule(rule):
 	result = re.search(r'^[ \t]*(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)\s+([\w\.-]+)(.*)', rule )
 	if result:
-		target, hostname, suffix = result.groups()
+		hostname, suffix = result.groups()
 		hostname = hostname.lower() # explicitly lowercase hostname
 		if suffix is not '':
 			# add suffix as comment only, not as a separate host