diff --git a/lib/chai/utils/inspect.js b/lib/chai/utils/inspect.js
index af2cdb185..3cf5dcef6 100644
--- a/lib/chai/utils/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/chai/utils/inspect.js
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ function formatValue(ctx, value, recurseTimes) {
           var container = document.createElementNS(ns, '_');
 
           container.appendChild(value.cloneNode(false));
-          html = container.innerHTML
+          var html = container.innerHTML
             .replace('><', '>' + value.innerHTML + '<');
           container.innerHTML = '';
           return html;