diff --git a/src/tallies/tally.cpp b/src/tallies/tally.cpp
index 8056b2574..0610c8cf1 100644
--- a/src/tallies/tally.cpp
+++ b/src/tallies/tally.cpp
@@ -1280,12 +1280,11 @@ extern "C" size_t tallies_size()
 extern "C" int openmc_remove_tally(int32_t index)
 {
   // check that id is in the map
-  if (index < 0 || index > model::tallies.size()) {
+  if (index < 0 || index >= model::tallies.size()) {
+    set_errmsg("Index in tallies array is out of bounds.");
     return OPENMC_E_OUT_OF_BOUNDS;
   }
-  // grab tally so it's ID can be obtained to remove the (ID,index) pair from
-  // tally_map
-  auto& tally = model::tallies[index];
+
   // delete the tally via iterator pointing to correct position
   // this calls the Tally destructor, removing the tally from the map as well
   model::tallies.erase(model::tallies.begin() + index);