An attempt is made to confirm the observation of Allen (1980) of a 3.3-micron emission feature attributed to thermal dust emission in the quasar 3C 273. Spectrophotometric observations of 3C 273 were obtained on May 18, 19 and 24 with the 1.5-m telescope of the Mount Lemmon Observatory. No evidence is found for the 3.3-micron feature in excess of 7% of the continuum, in contrast to the 40% feature measured by Allen. It is pointed out that if source variability is to account for the differences in the observations made over two years apart, it would imply that the emission feature is either associated with a compact region, or originates nearer the central source than originally believed.