diff --git a/core/state_processor.go b/core/state_processor.go
index c21f644f9851..bb2e181eb64a 100644
--- a/core/state_processor.go
+++ b/core/state_processor.go
@@ -107,7 +107,13 @@ func (p *StateProcessor) Process(block *types.Block, statedb *state.StateDB, cfg
 // ApplyTransactionWithEVM attempts to apply a transaction to the given state database
 // and uses the input parameters for its environment similar to ApplyTransaction. However,
 // this method takes an already created EVM instance as input.
-func ApplyTransactionWithEVM(msg *Message, config *params.ChainConfig, gp *GasPool, statedb *state.StateDB, blockNumber *big.Int, blockHash common.Hash, tx *types.Transaction, usedGas *uint64, evm *vm.EVM) (receipt *types.Receipt, err error) {
+func ApplyTransactionWithEVM(msg *Message, config *params.ChainConfig, gp *GasPool, statedb *state.StateDB, blockNumber *big.Int, blockHash common.Hash, tx *types.Transaction, usedGas *uint64, evm *vm.EVM) (*types.Receipt, error) {
+	// Declare some variables early in case tracing is enabled.
+	var (
+		result  *ExecutionResult
+		receipt *types.Receipt
+		err     error
+	)
 	if evm.Config.Tracer != nil && evm.Config.Tracer.OnTxStart != nil {
 		evm.Config.Tracer.OnTxStart(evm.GetVMContext(), tx, msg.From)
 		if evm.Config.Tracer.OnTxEnd != nil {
@@ -121,7 +127,7 @@ func ApplyTransactionWithEVM(msg *Message, config *params.ChainConfig, gp *GasPo
 	evm.Reset(txContext, statedb)
 
 	// Apply the transaction to the current state (included in the env).
-	result, err := ApplyMessage(evm, msg, gp)
+	result, err = ApplyMessage(evm, msg, gp)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}