diff --git a/Doc/texinputs/howto.cls b/Doc/texinputs/howto.cls
index df1099def5c..ab5bb9188f6 100644
--- a/Doc/texinputs/howto.cls
+++ b/Doc/texinputs/howto.cls
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 % This gives us all the Python-specific markup that we really want.
 % This should come last.  Do not change this.
 %
-\newif\if@usemoduleindex\@usemoduleindexfalse
 \RequirePackage{python}
 
 
diff --git a/Doc/texinputs/manual.cls b/Doc/texinputs/manual.cls
index 2e7f40ec0b6..46d6911aad9 100644
--- a/Doc/texinputs/manual.cls
+++ b/Doc/texinputs/manual.cls
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 % This gives us all the Python-specific markup that we really want.
 % This should come last.  Do not change this.
 %
-\newif\if@usemoduleindex\@usemoduleindextrue
 \RequirePackage{python}