diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
index 5b3b5602c95bc..1945012f93b42 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ def test_write_fspath_all(self, writer_name, writer_kwargs, module):
             writer(string, **writer_kwargs)
             writer(mypath, **writer_kwargs)
             with open(string, "rb") as f_str, open(fspath, "rb") as f_path:
-                if writer == "to_excel":
+                if writer_name == "to_excel":
                     # binary representation of excel contains time creation
                     # data that causes flaky CI failures
                     result = pd.read_excel(f_str, **writer_kwargs)