diff --git a/src/ModelTree.cc b/src/ModelTree.cc
index c6216131ea7aea3e807ea84cda7d672eba80b6e0..4592db6a1830e0a6520a7c6c6225996f3d31e2fa 100644
--- a/src/ModelTree.cc
+++ b/src/ModelTree.cc
@@ -1566,9 +1566,6 @@ ModelTree::includeExcludeEquations(set<pair<string, string>> &eqs, bool exclude_
     else
       ++it;
 
-  if (tag_eqns.empty())
-    return excluded_vars;
-
   set<int> eqns;
   if (exclude_eqs)
     eqns = tag_eqns;