diff --git a/src/core.js b/src/core.js
index 4311e310..f116ef4d 100644
--- a/src/core.js
+++ b/src/core.js
@@ -19,12 +19,8 @@ var jQuery = function( selector, context ) {
 	// (both of which we optimize for)
 	quickExpr = /^(?:[^<]*(<[\w\W]+>)[^>]*$|#([\w\-]+)$)/,
 
-	// Is it a simple selector
-	isSimple = /^.[^:#\[\.,]*$/,
-
 	// Check if a string has a non-whitespace character in it
 	rnotwhite = /\S/,
-	rwhite = /\s/,
 
 	// Used for trimming whitespace
 	trimLeft = /^\s+/,
@@ -1039,9 +1035,8 @@ if ( indexOf ) {
 	};
 }
 
-// Verify that \s matches non-breaking spaces
-// (IE fails on this test)
-if ( !rwhite.test( "\xA0" ) ) {
+// IE doesn't match non-breaking spaces with \s
+if ( rnotwhite.test( "\xA0" ) ) {
 	trimLeft = /^[\s\xA0]+/;
 	trimRight = /[\s\xA0]+$/;
 }