diff --git a/theHarvester/__main__.py b/theHarvester/__main__.py
index e5e44b02..36ed2c95 100644
--- a/theHarvester/__main__.py
+++ b/theHarvester/__main__.py
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ async def start():
             sys.exit(1)
 
         try:
-            filename.rsplit('.', 1)[0] + '.xml'
+            filename = filename.rsplit('.', 1)[0] + '.xml'
             file = open(filename, 'w')
             file.write('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><theHarvester>')
             for x in all_emails: