diff --git a/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/cram/compression/rans/ransnx16/RANSNx16Decode.java b/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/cram/compression/rans/ransnx16/RANSNx16Decode.java
index a9e30d0d96..9c1c0c0cae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/cram/compression/rans/ransnx16/RANSNx16Decode.java
+++ b/src/main/java/htsjdk/samtools/cram/compression/rans/ransnx16/RANSNx16Decode.java
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ public ByteBuffer uncompress(final ByteBuffer inBuffer, int outSize) {
             inBuffer.get(data, 0, outSize);
             outBuffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(data);
         } else {
-            outBuffer = ByteBuffer.allocate(outSize);
             if (outSize != 0) {
                 switch (ransNx16Params.getOrder()) {
                     case ZERO: