diff --git a/nova/api/ec2/ec2utils.py b/nova/api/ec2/ec2utils.py
index 2e2eef8a4b..5e6322f606 100644
--- a/nova/api/ec2/ec2utils.py
+++ b/nova/api/ec2/ec2utils.py
@@ -257,7 +257,6 @@ def is_ec2_timestamp_expired(request, expires=None):
     """Checks the timestamp or expiry time included in an EC2 request
     and returns true if the request is expired
     """
-    query_time = None
     timestamp = request.get('Timestamp')
     expiry_time = request.get('Expires')
 
diff --git a/nova/cmd/dhcpbridge.py b/nova/cmd/dhcpbridge.py
index 116d5c8f10..598ab0e4f2 100644
--- a/nova/cmd/dhcpbridge.py
+++ b/nova/cmd/dhcpbridge.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def init_leases(network_id):
 
 
 def add_action_parsers(subparsers):
-    parser = subparsers.add_parser('init')
+    subparsers.add_parser('init')
 
     # NOTE(cfb): dnsmasq always passes mac, and ip. hostname
     #            is passed if known. We don't care about
diff --git a/nova/compute/api.py b/nova/compute/api.py
index b40b3438bd..2f21edebce 100644
--- a/nova/compute/api.py
+++ b/nova/compute/api.py
@@ -2674,7 +2674,6 @@ class API(base.Base):
 
         self._record_action_start(context, instance, instance_actions.SHELVE)
 
-        image_id = None
         if not self.is_volume_backed_instance(context, instance):
             name = '%s-shelved' % instance.display_name
             image_meta = self._create_image(context, instance, name,
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_resource_tracker.py b/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_resource_tracker.py
index 73c8d32c19..51886fe419 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_resource_tracker.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/compute/test_resource_tracker.py
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ class UnsupportedDriverTestCase(BaseTestCase):
     def test_disabled_instance_context_claim(self):
         # instance context manager variation:
         instance = self._fake_instance()
-        claim = self.tracker.instance_claim(self.context, instance)
+        self.tracker.instance_claim(self.context, instance)
         with self.tracker.instance_claim(self.context, instance) as claim:
             self.assertEqual(0, claim.memory_mb)
 
diff --git a/nova/tests/unit/db/test_db_api.py b/nova/tests/unit/db/test_db_api.py
index 9e31e848d9..ccdd496912 100644
--- a/nova/tests/unit/db/test_db_api.py
+++ b/nova/tests/unit/db/test_db_api.py
@@ -1950,7 +1950,7 @@ class InstanceTestCase(test.TestCase, ModelsObjectComparatorMixin):
                          utils.metadata_to_dict(inst['system_metadata']))
 
     def test_instance_get_all_with_meta(self):
-        inst = self.create_instance_with_args()
+        self.create_instance_with_args()
         for inst in db.instance_get_all(self.ctxt):
             meta = utils.metadata_to_dict(inst['metadata'])
             self.assertEqual(meta, self.sample_data['metadata'])
@@ -2036,7 +2036,7 @@ class InstanceTestCase(test.TestCase, ModelsObjectComparatorMixin):
         mock_undefer.assert_called_once_with('extra.pci_requests')
 
     def test_instance_get_all_by_filters_with_meta(self):
-        inst = self.create_instance_with_args()
+        self.create_instance_with_args()
         for inst in db.instance_get_all_by_filters(self.ctxt, {}):
             meta = utils.metadata_to_dict(inst['metadata'])
             self.assertEqual(meta, self.sample_data['metadata'])
@@ -2044,7 +2044,7 @@ class InstanceTestCase(test.TestCase, ModelsObjectComparatorMixin):
             self.assertEqual(sys_meta, self.sample_data['system_metadata'])
 
     def test_instance_get_all_by_filters_without_meta(self):
-        inst = self.create_instance_with_args()
+        self.create_instance_with_args()
         result = db.instance_get_all_by_filters(self.ctxt, {},
                                                 columns_to_join=[])
         for inst in result:
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/imagecache.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/imagecache.py
index bbc2179838..476dd4f63d 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/imagecache.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/imagecache.py
@@ -520,7 +520,6 @@ class ImageCacheManager(imagecache.ImageCacheManager):
             # Give other threads a chance to run
             time.sleep(0)
 
-        instances = []
         if img_id in self.used_images:
             local, remote, instances = self.used_images[img_id]
 
diff --git a/nova/virt/libvirt/volume.py b/nova/virt/libvirt/volume.py
index d60c1623aa..8d5f6fa0aa 100644
--- a/nova/virt/libvirt/volume.py
+++ b/nova/virt/libvirt/volume.py
@@ -398,7 +398,6 @@ class LibvirtISCSIVolumeDriver(LibvirtBaseVolumeDriver):
         # multipath installed, discovering other targets if available
         # multipath should be configured on the nova-compute node,
         # in order to fit storage vendor
-        out = None
         if self.use_multipath:
             out = self._run_iscsiadm_discover(iscsi_properties)
 
diff --git a/nova/virt/xenapi/fake.py b/nova/virt/xenapi/fake.py
index d5a06ebf2d..e02903fd99 100644
--- a/nova/virt/xenapi/fake.py
+++ b/nova/virt/xenapi/fake.py
@@ -541,8 +541,6 @@ class SessionBase(object):
 
     def SR_introduce(self, _1, sr_uuid, label, desc, type, content_type,
                      shared, sm_config):
-        ref = None
-        rec = None
         for ref, rec in _db_content['SR'].iteritems():
             if rec.get('uuid') == sr_uuid:
                 # make forgotten = 0 and return ref
diff --git a/nova/virt/xenapi/vif.py b/nova/virt/xenapi/vif.py
index 9cdb6d9a00..6b3218cacb 100644
--- a/nova/virt/xenapi/vif.py
+++ b/nova/virt/xenapi/vif.py
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class XenAPIBridgeDriver(XenVIFDriver):
                     bridge_interface)
             pifs = self._session.call_xenapi('PIF.get_all_records_where',
                                              expr)
-            pif_ref = None
+
             # Multiple PIF are ok: we are dealing with a pool
             if len(pifs) == 0:
                 raise Exception(_('Found no PIF for device %s') %