diff --git a/sphinx/domains/cpp.py b/sphinx/domains/cpp.py
index 9c8b3a3c6..5dfd8f5c3 100644
--- a/sphinx/domains/cpp.py
+++ b/sphinx/domains/cpp.py
@@ -4584,7 +4584,7 @@ class DefinitionParser(object):
                 return ASTCharLiteral(prefix, data)
             except UnicodeDecodeError as e:
                 self.fail("Can not handle character literal. Internal error was: %s" % e)
-            except UnsupportedMultiCharacterCharLiteral as e:
+            except UnsupportedMultiCharacterCharLiteral:
                 self.fail("Can not handle character literal"
                           " resulting in multiple decoded characters.")