diff --git a/lisp/sort.el b/lisp/sort.el
index a9686f92d48..6b008b6644e 100644
--- a/lisp/sort.el
+++ b/lisp/sort.el
@@ -257,18 +257,15 @@ the sort order."
                  (lambda () (skip-chars-forward "\n"))
 		 'forward-page))))
 
-(defvar sort-fields-syntax-table nil)
-(if sort-fields-syntax-table nil
-  (let ((table (make-syntax-table))
-	(i 0))
-    (while (< i 256)
-      (modify-syntax-entry i "w" table)
-      (setq i (1+ i)))
+(defvar sort-fields-syntax-table
+  (let ((table (make-syntax-table)))
+    (dotimes (i 256)
+      (modify-syntax-entry i "w" table))
     (modify-syntax-entry ?\s " " table)
     (modify-syntax-entry ?\t " " table)
     (modify-syntax-entry ?\n " " table)
     (modify-syntax-entry ?\. "_" table)	; for floating pt. numbers. -wsr
-    (setq sort-fields-syntax-table table)))
+    table))
 
 (defcustom sort-numeric-base 10
   "The default base used by `sort-numeric-fields'."