diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index ca2da902..537973bb 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2021-12-06  Joerg Wunsch <j.gnu@uriah.heep.sax.de>
+
+	bug #57338: if safemode has to change fuses avrdude should exit with non-zero exit code
+	* main.c (main): drop unused variable `fuses_specified'
+
 2021-12-06  Joerg Wunsch <j.gnu@uriah.heep.sax.de>
 
 	Submitted by Dmitrii Chernukhin:
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index a5839493..8047a5bc 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ Current:
     bug #58440: linuxgpio PIN limit too low
     bug #55462: wrong programmer id check in jtag3_getsync() and jtag3_close()
     bug #58994: VPP PWM still enabled at the end of programming process
+    bug #57338: if safemode has to change fuses avrdude should exit with non-zero exit code
 
   * Patches:
     patch #9482: Add support for UPDI and AVR8X
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 0dd9d7ad..7f179d40 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -345,7 +345,6 @@ int main(int argc, char * argv [])
   unsigned char safemode_fuse = 0xff;
 
   char * safemode_response;
-  int fuses_specified = 0;
   int fuses_updated = 0;
 #if !defined(WIN32NATIVE)
   char  * homedir;
@@ -1423,7 +1422,7 @@ int main(int argc, char * argv [])
       }
     }
 
-    if (fuses_updated && fuses_specified) {
+    if (fuses_updated) {
       exitrc = 1;
     }