diff --git a/searchlib/src/vespa/searchlib/diskindex/field_merger.h b/searchlib/src/vespa/searchlib/diskindex/field_merger.h
index 5017a7d51920..bbb4efc03b1e 100644
--- a/searchlib/src/vespa/searchlib/diskindex/field_merger.h
+++ b/searchlib/src/vespa/searchlib/diskindex/field_merger.h
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ class FieldMerger
     std::unique_ptr<FieldWriter> _writer;
     State _state;
     bool _failed;
-    bool _force_small_merge_chunk;
 
     void make_tmp_dirs();
     bool clean_tmp_dirs();