diff --git a/doc/changes/changes_2.1.2.md b/doc/changes/changes_2.1.2.md
index a7bcbfa..9bc9e23 100644
--- a/doc/changes/changes_2.1.2.md
+++ b/doc/changes/changes_2.1.2.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Code name:
 
 * 194: Wrong name of Exasol JDBC format in documentation
 * 197: Committing transaction in the finally handler
+* 198: Remove unused `Statement` variable
 
 ## Dependency Updates
 
diff --git a/exasol-jdbc/src/main/scala/com/exasol/spark/rdd/ExasolRDD.scala b/exasol-jdbc/src/main/scala/com/exasol/spark/rdd/ExasolRDD.scala
index b77466e..d0e2883 100644
--- a/exasol-jdbc/src/main/scala/com/exasol/spark/rdd/ExasolRDD.scala
+++ b/exasol-jdbc/src/main/scala/com/exasol/spark/rdd/ExasolRDD.scala
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ class ExasolRDD(
   override def compute(split: Partition, context: TaskContext): Iterator[Row] = {
     var closed = false
     var resultSet: ResultSet = null
-    val stmt: Statement = null
     var conn: EXAConnection = null
 
     def close(): Unit = {
@@ -110,14 +109,6 @@ class ExasolRDD(
         case e: Exception => logWarning("Received an exception closing sub resultSet", e)
       }
 
-      try {
-        if (stmt != null && !stmt.isClosed) {
-          stmt.close()
-        }
-      } catch {
-        case e: Exception => logWarning("Received an exception closing sub statement", e)
-      }
-
       try {
         if (conn != null) {
           if (!conn.isClosed && !conn.getAutoCommit) {
@@ -156,5 +147,4 @@ class ExasolRDD(
 
     JdbcUtils.resultSetToRows(resultSet, querySchema)
   }
-
 }