diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVPrinterTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVPrinterTest.java
index f4665f64..a96e3439 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVPrinterTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/csv/CSVPrinterTest.java
@@ -517,9 +517,9 @@ public class CSVPrinterTest {
         csvPrinter.close();
     }
 
-    private CSVPrinter printWithHeaderComments(final StringWriter sw, Date now, CSVFormat format)
+    private CSVPrinter printWithHeaderComments(final StringWriter sw, Date now, CSVFormat baseFormat)
             throws IOException {
-        format = format.withCommentMarker('#').withHeader("Col1", "Col2");
+        CSVFormat format = baseFormat.withCommentMarker('#').withHeader("Col1", "Col2");
         format = format.withHeaderComments("Generated by Apache Commons CSV 1.1", now);
         final CSVPrinter csvPrinter = format.print(sw);
         csvPrinter.printRecord("A", "B");