diff --git a/runner.sh b/runner.sh
index 36225ec59..243e6b27b 100755
--- a/runner.sh
+++ b/runner.sh
@@ -553,7 +553,6 @@ function _run_notebook {
 
         echo Checking PEP8 compliance...
         jupytext "$filename" --opt custom_cell_magics="writefile" -w --to script -o - | \
-            sed 's/\(^\s*\)%/\1pass  # %/' | \
             sed 's/\(^#.*\)$/\1  # noqa: E501/' | \
             flake8 - --show-source --extend-ignore=E203,N812,W503 --max-line-length 120
         local success=$?