diff --git a/block/bsg.c b/block/bsg.c
index 6f05a397dc3a1b9fe78713ffabe675526dd21170..9d77a0c7245774c9c9f9a5dcf17d08b2a5bee656 100644
--- a/block/bsg.c
+++ b/block/bsg.c
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ bsg_map_hdr(struct bsg_device *bd, struct sg_io_v4 *hdr)
 {
 	request_queue_t *q = bd->queue;
 	struct request *rq;
-	int ret, rw;
+	int ret, rw = 0; /* shut up gcc */
 	unsigned int dxfer_len;
 	void *dxferp = NULL;