diff --git a/examples/hwintf.py b/examples/hwintf.py
index cfe12aa..e5960d9 100755
--- a/examples/hwintf.py
+++ b/examples/hwintf.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
     switch = net.switches[ 0 ]
     info( '*** Adding hardware interface', intfName, 'to switch',
           switch.name, '\n' )
-    intf = Intf( intfName, node=switch )
+    _intf = Intf( intfName, node=switch )
 
     info( '*** Note: you may need to reconfigure the interfaces for '
           'the Mininet hosts:\n', net.hosts, '\n' )
diff --git a/mininet/node.py b/mininet/node.py
index 566e3df..023c1e1 100644
--- a/mininet/node.py
+++ b/mininet/node.py
@@ -996,7 +996,7 @@ class Controller( Node ):
     def checkListening( self ):
         "Make sure no controllers are running on our port"
         # Verify that Telnet is installed first:
-        out, err, returnCode = errRun( "which telnet" )
+        out, _err, returnCode = errRun( "which telnet" )
         if 'telnet' not in out or returnCode != 0:
             raise Exception( "Error running telnet to check for listening "
                              "controllers; please check that it is "