diff --git a/hooks/merged-usr/setup00.sh b/hooks/merged-usr/setup00.sh
index 3a2af74..d37ff3f 100755
--- a/hooks/merged-usr/setup00.sh
+++ b/hooks/merged-usr/setup00.sh
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ if [ -e /usr/share/debootstrap/functions ]; then
 	. /usr/share/debootstrap/functions
 	doing_variant () { [ $1 != "buildd" ]; }
 	MERGED_USR="yes"
-	# until https://salsa.debian.org/installer-team/debootstrap/-/merge_requests/48 gets merged
-	link_dir=""
 	setup_merged_usr
 else
 	link_dir=""