diff --git a/django/utils/html.py b/django/utils/html.py
index 2b8f2a8c896..3bc02b8dd3a 100644
--- a/django/utils/html.py
+++ b/django/utils/html.py
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ WRAPPING_PUNCTUATION = [('(', ')'), ('[', ']')]
 # List of possible strings used for bullets in bulleted lists.
 DOTS = ['·', '*', '\u2022', '•', '•', '•']
 
-unencoded_ampersands_re = _lazy_re_compile(r'&(?!(\w+|#\d+);)')
 word_split_re = _lazy_re_compile(r'''([\s<>"']+)''')
 simple_url_re = _lazy_re_compile(r'^https?://\[?\w', re.IGNORECASE)
 simple_url_2_re = _lazy_re_compile(