diff --git a/Event/ByteStreamCnvSvc/src/EventSelectorByteStream.cxx b/Event/ByteStreamCnvSvc/src/EventSelectorByteStream.cxx
index bc20c5f82e7b6cef0af03b8103317d444d044ff0..a86f46bb8b8635c59f41d77e440f85824336cc10 100644
--- a/Event/ByteStreamCnvSvc/src/EventSelectorByteStream.cxx
+++ b/Event/ByteStreamCnvSvc/src/EventSelectorByteStream.cxx
@@ -736,9 +736,8 @@ StatusCode EventSelectorByteStream::recordAttributeListImpl(lock_t& lock) const
       }
    }
 
-   // build spec and the new attr list
-   coral::AttributeListSpecification* spec = new coral::AttributeListSpecification(); // the newly created attribute list owns the spec
-   auto attrList = std::make_unique<AthenaAttributeList>(*spec);
+   // build the new attr list
+   auto attrList = std::make_unique<AthenaAttributeList>();
 
    // fill the attr list
    ATH_CHECK(fillAttributeListImpl(attrList.get(), "", false, lock));