diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
index 070fbb3f349217d9dd28454d2ea761e31ee56e2f..d3f74d24a4d0b0b1bf0eed2eaf9784fcd8adebf0 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_driver.c
@@ -4010,7 +4010,7 @@ qemuDomainSaveImageOpen(struct qemud_driver *driver,
                         const char *xmlin, int state, bool edit,
                         bool unlink_corrupt)
 {
-    int fd;
+    int fd = -1;
     struct qemud_save_header header;
     char *xml = NULL;
     virDomainDefPtr def = NULL;