diff --git a/weed/storage/volume_write.go b/weed/storage/volume_write.go
index 2e0fc4de1..954b06159 100644
--- a/weed/storage/volume_write.go
+++ b/weed/storage/volume_write.go
@@ -215,8 +215,8 @@ func (v *Volume) doDeleteRequest(n *needle.Needle) (Size, error) {
 	if ok && nv.Size.IsValid() {
 		var offset uint64
 		var err error
+		size := nv.Size
 		if !v.hasRemoteFile {
-			size := nv.Size
 			n.Data = nil
 			n.AppendAtNs = uint64(time.Now().UnixNano())
 			offset, _, _, err = n.Append(v.DataBackend, v.Version())