diff --git a/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py b/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py
index b39462b32..96c32cb5d 100644
--- a/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py
+++ b/src/pretix/plugins/ticketoutputpdf/ticketoutput.py
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ class PdfTicketOutput(BaseTicketOutput):
             return ev.meta_data.get(o['content'][5:]) or ''
         elif o['content'] in self.variables:
             try:
-                self.variables[o['content']]['evaluate'](op, order, ev)
+                return self.variables[o['content']]['evaluate'](op, order, ev)
             except:
                 logger.exception('Failed to process variable.')
                 return '(error)'