diff --git a/Lib/csv.py b/Lib/csv.py
index 0de5656a4ee..309a8f3f486 100644
--- a/Lib/csv.py
+++ b/Lib/csv.py
@@ -165,11 +165,6 @@ def writerows(self, rowdicts):
 
     __class_getitem__ = classmethod(types.GenericAlias)
 
-# Guard Sniffer's type checking against builds that exclude complex()
-try:
-    complex
-except NameError:
-    complex = float
 
 class Sniffer:
     '''