diff --git a/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py b/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py
index 4e0c72304..12b69860a 100644
--- a/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py
+++ b/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@ class RFC2616PolicyTest(DefaultStorageTest):
     policy_class = 'scrapy.extensions.httpcache.RFC2616Policy'
 
     def _process_requestresponse(self, mw, request, response):
+        result = None
         try:
             result = mw.process_request(request, self.spider)
             if result: