diff --git a/arangod/Wal/CollectorThread.cpp b/arangod/Wal/CollectorThread.cpp
index 0d099edd25..3fe1661fe7 100644
--- a/arangod/Wal/CollectorThread.cpp
+++ b/arangod/Wal/CollectorThread.cpp
@@ -858,10 +858,8 @@ int CollectorThread::executeTransferMarkers (TRI_document_collection_t* document
                                              CollectorCache* cache,
                                              OperationsType const& operations) {
 
-#ifdef TRI_ENABLE_FAILURE_TESTS
   // used only for crash / recovery tests
   int numMarkers = 0;
-#endif
 
   TRI_voc_tick_t const minTransferTick = document->_tickMax;