diff --git a/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c b/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c
index 0f301d92160f656bef9b5d02cb0f12481e36c012..4f21a82fb724bf1c85bcc11b6def0d89446a312c 100644
--- a/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c
+++ b/src/util/virnetdevbridge.c
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ int virNetDevBridgeGetSTPDelay(const char *brname,
                                int *delayms)
 {
     int ret = -1;
-    unsigned long val;
+    unsigned long val = 0;
 
     ret = virNetDevBridgeGet(brname, "forward_delay", &val);
     *delayms = JIFFIES_TO_MS(val);