diff --git a/packages/showdown/showdown.js b/packages/showdown/showdown.js
index 43920d95c2..198acc5df7 100644
--- a/packages/showdown/showdown.js
+++ b/packages/showdown/showdown.js
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@
 //
 // Showdown namespace
 //
-var Showdown = {};
+// METEOR CHANGE: remove "var" so that this isn't file-local.
+Showdown = {};
 
 //
 // converter