diff --git a/drivers/staging/speakup/speakup_soft.c b/drivers/staging/speakup/speakup_soft.c
index 2a676107fa4d4ea92e2e327a8ba439c8fc5fbaab..e2f5c81e75483e82fb0ae84b04cf15238492ae4f 100644
--- a/drivers/staging/speakup/speakup_soft.c
+++ b/drivers/staging/speakup/speakup_soft.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static int softsynth_is_alive(struct spk_synth *synth);
 static unsigned char get_index(void);
 
 static struct miscdevice synth_device;
-static int initialized;
+static int init_pos;
 static int misc_registered;
 
 static struct var_t vars[] = {
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ static int softsynth_close(struct inode *inode, struct file *fp)
 	unsigned long flags;
 	spk_lock(flags);
 	synth_soft.alive = 0;
-	initialized = 0;
+	init_pos = 0;
 	spk_unlock(flags);
 	/* Make sure we let applications go before leaving */
 	speakup_start_ttys();
@@ -239,13 +239,8 @@ static ssize_t softsynth_read(struct file *fp, char *buf, size_t count,
 			ch = '\x18';
 		} else if (synth_buffer_empty()) {
 			break;
-		} else if (!initialized) {
-			if (*init) {
-				ch = *init;
-				init++;
-			} else {
-				initialized = 1;
-			}
+		} else if (init[init_pos]) {
+			ch = init[init_pos++];
 		} else {
 			ch = synth_buffer_getc();
 		}