diff --git a/utils/renderTemplate.ts b/utils/renderTemplate.ts
index f2b869e8..4a842289 100644
--- a/utils/renderTemplate.ts
+++ b/utils/renderTemplate.ts
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ function renderTemplate(src, dest, callbacks) {
 
   if (filename === 'settings.json' && fs.existsSync(dest)) {
     // merge instead of overwriting
-    const settings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(dest, 'utf8'))
+    const existing = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(dest, 'utf8'))
     const newSettings = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(src, 'utf8'))
-    const extensions = deepMerge(settings, newSettings)
+    const settings = deepMerge(existing, newSettings)
     fs.writeFileSync(dest, JSON.stringify(settings, null, 2) + '\n')
     return
   }