diff --git a/net/core/dev.c b/net/core/dev.c
index 54bb8d99d26afcc1a9c5a56f1e8c2d1f6e06db98..6d60149287a1868cd65fcc55a4e29edd7611def3 100644
--- a/net/core/dev.c
+++ b/net/core/dev.c
@@ -8203,7 +8203,7 @@ static int dev_cpu_dead(unsigned int oldcpu)
 	struct sk_buff **list_skb;
 	struct sk_buff *skb;
 	unsigned int cpu;
-	struct softnet_data *sd, *oldsd, *remsd;
+	struct softnet_data *sd, *oldsd, *remsd = NULL;
 
 	local_irq_disable();
 	cpu = smp_processor_id();