diff --git a/src/nvim/screen.c b/src/nvim/screen.c
index 52b0cf3c29..439fe14e86 100644
--- a/src/nvim/screen.c
+++ b/src/nvim/screen.c
@@ -7534,7 +7534,6 @@ int showmode(void)
             msg_puts_attr(edit_submode_extra, sub_attr);
           }
         }
-        length = 0;
       } else {
         if (State & VREPLACE_FLAG)
           MSG_PUTS_ATTR(_(" VREPLACE"), attr);