diff --git a/src/uml/uml_conf.c b/src/uml/uml_conf.c
index a4088f2e6c3ffb364257b783274ef3ba5db83675..38dcfbb7dfd2a12ff1953c003c0aa99ac8cadb42 100644
--- a/src/uml/uml_conf.c
+++ b/src/uml/uml_conf.c
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ umlConnectTapDevice(virConnectPtr conn,
                     const char *bridge)
 {
     bool template_ifname = false;
-    int tapfd;
+    int tapfd = -1;
 
     if (!net->ifname ||
         STRPREFIX(net->ifname, VIR_NET_GENERATED_PREFIX) ||