diff --git a/modules/feature/spellcheck/config.el b/modules/feature/spellcheck/config.el
index a6638c251..ceee1c467 100644
--- a/modules/feature/spellcheck/config.el
+++ b/modules/feature/spellcheck/config.el
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Since spellchecking can be slow in some buffers, this can be disabled with:
   (setq-hook! 'LaTeX-mode-hook +spellcheck-immediately nil)")
 
 ;; `ispell'
-(defvar ispell-dictionary "english")
+(setq ispell-dictionary "english")
 
 (def-package! flyspell ; built-in
   :defer t