diff --git a/rpc/jsonrpc/client/http_json_client.go b/rpc/jsonrpc/client/http_json_client.go
index ad1dc7a42..ff5cfd658 100644
--- a/rpc/jsonrpc/client/http_json_client.go
+++ b/rpc/jsonrpc/client/http_json_client.go
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
-	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 
 	cmtsync "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/libs/sync"
@@ -25,8 +24,6 @@ const (
 	protoUNIX  = "unix"
 )
 
-var endsWithPortPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`:[0-9]+$`)
-
 // Parsed URL structure
 type parsedURL struct {
 	url.URL