diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/route_ui.cc b/gtk2_ardour/route_ui.cc
index f059a0adf0..85124ce45c 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/route_ui.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/route_ui.cc
@@ -1921,9 +1921,7 @@ RouteUI::save_as_template_dialog_response (int response, SaveTemplateDialog* d)
 void
 RouteUI::save_as_template ()
 {
-	std::string dir;
-
-	dir = ARDOUR::user_route_template_directory ();
+	const std::string dir = ARDOUR::user_route_template_directory ();
 
 	if (g_mkdir_with_parents (dir.c_str(), 0755)) {
 		error << string_compose (_("Cannot create route template directory %1"), dir) << endmsg;