diff --git a/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.c b/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.c
index 6673b1e6f..bbaffd0b8 100644
--- a/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.c
+++ b/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.c
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ static DeviceIntPtr
 xf86ActivateDevice(InputInfoPtr pInfo)
 {
     DeviceIntPtr	dev;
+    Atom		atom;
 
     dev = AddInputDevice(serverClient, pInfo->device_control, TRUE);
 
@@ -306,8 +307,8 @@ xf86ActivateDevice(InputInfoPtr pInfo)
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    pInfo->atom = MakeAtom(pInfo->type_name, strlen(pInfo->type_name), TRUE);
-    AssignTypeAndName(dev, pInfo->atom, pInfo->name);
+    atom = MakeAtom(pInfo->type_name, strlen(pInfo->type_name), TRUE);
+    AssignTypeAndName(dev, atom, pInfo->name);
     dev->public.devicePrivate = pInfo;
     pInfo->dev = dev;
 
diff --git a/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.h b/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.h
index edc447c25..9a3d2232d 100644
--- a/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.h
+++ b/hw/xfree86/common/xf86Xinput.h
@@ -122,7 +122,6 @@ typedef struct _InputInfoRec {
 				 int num_valuators);
 
     int			    fd;
-    Atom		    atom;
     DeviceIntPtr	    dev;
     pointer		    private;
     char *		    type_name;