diff --git a/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php b/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
index 9dfec97e9fad..935ed72557b6 100644
--- a/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
+++ b/CRM/Dedupe/Merger.php
@@ -1783,7 +1783,7 @@ public static function moveAllBelongings($mainId, $otherId, $migrationInfo, $che
       $submitted = [];
     }
     foreach ($submitted as $key => $value) {
-      [$cFields, $submitted] = self::processCustomFields($mainId, $key, $cFields, $submitted, $value);
+      $submitted = self::processCustomFields($mainId, $key, $cFields, $submitted, $value);
     }
 
     // move view only custom fields CRM-5362
@@ -2206,7 +2206,7 @@ protected static function processCustomFields($mainId, $key, $cFields, $submitte
     if (substr($key, 0, 7) === 'custom_') {
       $fid = (int) substr($key, 7);
       if (empty($cFields[$fid])) {
-        return [$cFields, $submitted];
+        return $submitted;
       }
       $htmlType = $cFields[$fid]['attributes']['html_type'];
       $isSerialized = CRM_Core_BAO_CustomField::isSerialized($cFields[$fid]['attributes']);
@@ -2277,7 +2277,7 @@ protected static function processCustomFields($mainId, $key, $cFields, $submitte
         }
       }
     }
-    return [$cFields, $submitted];
+    return $submitted;
   }
 
   /**