diff --git a/apps/dgst.c b/apps/dgst.c
index 312d8804c389ee546af256a865a737bd0f59a730..7e79868e7ac3672ff5de6a3b6e56c1b6e1528dd9 100644
--- a/apps/dgst.c
+++ b/apps/dgst.c
@@ -593,6 +593,7 @@ int do_fp(BIO *out, unsigned char *buf, BIO *bp, int sep, int binout,
 		{
 		EVP_MD_CTX *ctx;
 		BIO_get_md_ctx(bp, &ctx);
+		len = BUFSIZE;
 		if(!EVP_DigestSignFinal(ctx, buf, &len)) 
 			{
 			BIO_printf(bio_err, "Error Signing Data\n");