diff --git a/lib/geocoder/lookups/base.rb b/lib/geocoder/lookups/base.rb
index 7a65d66a1b1ec1daf6cc254d79733cd9f1b77a63..e0edb9131c12418256a7205e17f9d2875d99b1e1 100644
--- a/lib/geocoder/lookups/base.rb
+++ b/lib/geocoder/lookups/base.rb
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ module Geocoder
       # Object used to make HTTP requests.
       #
       def http_client
-        protocol = "http#{'s' if use_ssl?}"
         proxy_name = "#{protocol}_proxy"
         if proxy = configuration.send(proxy_name)
           proxy_url = !!(proxy =~ /^#{protocol}/) ? proxy : protocol + '://' + proxy