diff --git a/src/coreComponents/physicsSolvers/simplePDE/PhaseFieldDamageFEMKernels.hpp b/src/coreComponents/physicsSolvers/simplePDE/PhaseFieldDamageFEMKernels.hpp
index c3c465ad794..d65407c7bc8 100644
--- a/src/coreComponents/physicsSolvers/simplePDE/PhaseFieldDamageFEMKernels.hpp
+++ b/src/coreComponents/physicsSolvers/simplePDE/PhaseFieldDamageFEMKernels.hpp
@@ -210,11 +210,12 @@ struct DamageKernel
       real64 qp_damage = 0.0;
       real64 qp_grad_damage[3] = {0, 0, 0};
       FE_TYPE::valueAndGradient( N, dNdX, stack.nodalDamageLocal, qp_damage, qp_grad_damage );
-
+      
+      real64 D = 0;
       if constexpr ( DISSIPATION_FUNCTION_ORDER::value == 1 )
       {
         real64 const threshold = m_constitutiveUpdate.getEnergyThreshold( k, q );
-        real64 const D = fmax( threshold, strainEnergyDensity ); //max between threshold and Elastic energy
+        D = fmax( threshold, strainEnergyDensity ); //max between threshold and Elastic energy
       }
 
       for( localIndex a = 0; a < numNodesPerElem; ++a )