diff --git a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanClassQuery.java b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanClassQuery.java
index 0b2df96..946d75d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanClassQuery.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/query/SpanClassQuery.java
@@ -51,25 +51,20 @@
                 termContexts, number);
     };
 
-
     @Override
     public Query rewrite (IndexReader reader) throws IOException {
-        SpanClassQuery clone = null;
+
         SpanQuery query = (SpanQuery) this.firstClause.rewrite(reader);
 
         if (query != this.firstClause) {
-            if (clone == null)
-                clone = this.clone();
+
+			SpanClassQuery clone = this.clone();
             clone.firstClause = query;
+			return clone;
         };
-
-        if (clone != null)
-            return clone;
-
         return this;
     };
 
-
     @Override
     public SpanClassQuery clone () {
         SpanClassQuery spanClassQuery = new SpanClassQuery(