diff --git a/common/globalvar.c b/common/globalvar.c
index 85d079527..52808f885 100644
--- a/common/globalvar.c
+++ b/common/globalvar.c
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@ void globalvar_set_match(const char *match, const char *val)
 static int globalvar_simple_set(struct device_d *dev, struct param_d *p, const char *val)
 {
 	struct device_d *rdev;
-	const char *pname;
+	const char *pname = NULL;
 	int ret;
 
 	ret = nvvar_device_dispatch(p->name, &rdev, &pname);