diff --git a/acme.go b/acme.go
index a0b674ec2dba41fce60856396f219df1c8ab7e67..a4594136e563e63b50adf46f080262942229edde 100644
--- a/acme.go
+++ b/acme.go
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ func (a *ACME) acmeClient(ctx context.Context) (*acme.Client, error) {
 	// Register the account (accept TOS) if necessary. If the
 	// account is already registered we get a StatusConflict,
 	// which we can ignore.
-	_, err := client.Register(ctx, ac, func(_ string) bool { return true })
+	_, err = client.Register(ctx, ac, func(_ string) bool { return true })
 	if ae, ok := err.(*acme.Error); err == nil || err == acme.ErrAccountAlreadyExists || (ok && ae.StatusCode == http.StatusConflict) {
 		a.client = client
 		err = nil