diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/internal/server/index.js b/packages/svelte/src/internal/server/index.js
index a72e81ae68..960d664123 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/internal/server/index.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/internal/server/index.js
@@ -551,19 +551,14 @@ export function maybe_selected(payload, value) {
  * @returns {void}
  */
 export function valueless_option(payload, children) {
-	// store the initial payload before rendering children
-	let i = payload.out.length;
+	var i = payload.out.length;
 
-	// execute the child to get the runtime body of the option
 	children();
 
-	// remove the initial payload and eventual hydration comments
-	let body = payload.out.slice(i);
+	var body = payload.out.slice(i);
 
-	// check the value of the body with the select_value
 	if (body.replace(/<!---->/g, '') === payload.select_value) {
-		// substring the initial payload to remove the last character (the closing `>`)
-		// append selected and the body (the closing tag will be added later)
+		// replace '>' with ' selected>' (closing tag will be added later)
 		payload.out = payload.out.slice(0, i - 1) + ' selected>' + body;
 	}
 }