diff --git a/includes/theme.inc b/includes/theme.inc
index 805646f5a08b47f75488d3aa130c39f659fdbd27..e243d1f119f02e8a111520b8a997f9f8894c0980 100644
--- a/includes/theme.inc
+++ b/includes/theme.inc
@@ -1239,9 +1239,7 @@ function theme_render_template($template_file, $variables) {
   extract($variables, EXTR_SKIP);               // Extract the variables to a local namespace
   ob_start();                                   // Start output buffering
   include DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $template_file;   // Include the template file
-  $contents = ob_get_contents();                // Get the contents of the buffer
-  ob_end_clean();                               // End buffering and discard
-  return $contents;                             // Return the contents
+  return ob_get_clean();                        // End buffering and return its contents
 }
 
 /**