diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_svg.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_svg.py
index cffee2552828..c4466b19ed38 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_svg.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_svg.py
@@ -293,7 +293,6 @@ def __init__(self, width, height, svgwriter, basename=None, image_dpi=72,
         self._hatchd = OrderedDict()
         self._has_gouraud = False
         self._n_gradients = 0
-        self._fonts = OrderedDict()
 
         super().__init__()
         self._glyph_map = dict()