diff --git a/lib/transfer.c b/lib/transfer.c
index 3457f7c26e9f3761e1ed5d22761fb4b6ab3f0de0..dae8599b9d2af033ccbdba70abebaee0cf1c37f1 100644
--- a/lib/transfer.c
+++ b/lib/transfer.c
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ static CURLcode readwrite_data(struct SessionHandle *data,
                                struct SingleRequest *k,
                                int *didwhat, bool *done)
 {
-  CURLcode result;
+  CURLcode result = CURLE_OK;
   ssize_t nread; /* number of bytes read */
   bool is_empty_data = FALSE;