diff --git a/src/linearmixedmodel.jl b/src/linearmixedmodel.jl
index 6786f6f6f..14f297835 100644
--- a/src/linearmixedmodel.jl
+++ b/src/linearmixedmodel.jl
@@ -1287,9 +1287,6 @@ Mark a model as unfitted.
 function unfit!(model::LinearMixedModel{T}) where {T}
     model.optsum.feval = -1
     model.optsum.initial_step = T[]
-    # for variances (bounded at zero), we have ones, while
-    # for everything else (bounded at -Inf), we have zeros
-    model.optsum.initial .= map(T ∘ iszero, model.optsum.lowerbd)
     reevaluateAend!(model)
 
     return model