diff --git a/lib/vtls/vtls.c b/lib/vtls/vtls.c
index fd025b1dae77e1c9d9df83993ee1390c2836f582..6c1fdc8610a097955e9799819bfdab2bf4c59576 100644
--- a/lib/vtls/vtls.c
+++ b/lib/vtls/vtls.c
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ void Curl_free_ssl_config(struct ssl_config_data* sslc)
 
 unsigned int Curl_rand(struct SessionHandle *data)
 {
-  unsigned int r;
+  unsigned int r = 0;
   static unsigned int randseed;
   static bool seeded = FALSE;