diff --git a/bindings/java/src/org/sleuthkit/datamodel/blackboardutils/attributes/BlackboardJsonAttrUtil.java b/bindings/java/src/org/sleuthkit/datamodel/blackboardutils/attributes/BlackboardJsonAttrUtil.java
index eea08024be1196c31c01fabde368514ccc4f09f4..812f02c13b64c5a507ad845aebea391daffac6f1 100755
--- a/bindings/java/src/org/sleuthkit/datamodel/blackboardutils/attributes/BlackboardJsonAttrUtil.java
+++ b/bindings/java/src/org/sleuthkit/datamodel/blackboardutils/attributes/BlackboardJsonAttrUtil.java
@@ -72,8 +72,7 @@ public static <T> T fromAttribute(BlackboardAttribute attr, Class<T> clazz) thro
 			throw new InvalidJsonException("The string value (JSON) of the attribute is null or empty");
 		}
 		try {
-			T object = (new Gson()).fromJson(json, clazz);
-			return object;
+			return (new Gson()).fromJson(json, clazz);
 		} catch (JsonSyntaxException ex) {
 			throw new InvalidJsonException("The string value (JSON) of the attribute is of an unexpected type", ex);
 		}