diff --git a/lib/shmem.C b/lib/shmem.C
index 178ee94430..d08a9c4dc9 100755
--- a/lib/shmem.C
+++ b/lib/shmem.C
@@ -219,7 +219,8 @@ int attach_shmem(char *path, void** pp) {
     struct stat sbuf;
     
     // Return NULL pointer if attach_shmem fails
-    *pp = 0;    fd = open(path, O_RDWR);
+    *pp = 0;
+    fd = open(path, O_RDWR);
     if (fd < 0) return ERR_SHMGET;
 
     retval = fstat(fd, &sbuf);