diff --git a/salt/modules/linux_sysctl.py b/salt/modules/linux_sysctl.py
index 492231d7d4..862ebe1383 100644
--- a/salt/modules/linux_sysctl.py
+++ b/salt/modules/linux_sysctl.py
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ def persist(name, value, config='/etc/sysctl.conf'):
             # and it seems unnecessary to indent the below for
             # loop since it is a fairly large block of code.
             config_data = _fh.readlines()
-    except (IOError, OSError) as exc:
+    except (IOError, OSError):
         msg = 'Could not read from file: {0}'
         raise CommandExecutionError(msg.format(config))