diff --git a/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/aio/completion_queue.pyx.pxi b/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/aio/completion_queue.pyx.pxi
index 33d1f348c75..7dd1f68f10c 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/aio/completion_queue.pyx.pxi
+++ b/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/aio/completion_queue.pyx.pxi
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ cdef class PollerCompletionQueue(BaseCompletionQueue):
     cdef void _poll(self) except *:
         cdef grpc_event event
         cdef CallbackContext *context
-        cdef object waiter
 
         while not self._shutdown:
             with nogil: