diff --git a/src/slurmctld/proc_req.c b/src/slurmctld/proc_req.c
index df2b904659ea9ccf5866ec8fabee5198efc8a138..605937ac7b49dbd3286b466572de6c5658c90451 100644
--- a/src/slurmctld/proc_req.c
+++ b/src/slurmctld/proc_req.c
@@ -994,7 +994,7 @@ static void _slurm_rpc_job_step_create(slurm_msg_t * msg)
 	job_step_create_response_msg_t job_step_resp;
 	job_step_create_request_msg_t *req_step_msg =
 	    (job_step_create_request_msg_t *) msg->data;
-	slurm_cred_t slurm_cred;
+	slurm_cred_t slurm_cred = (slurm_cred_t) NULL;
 	/* Locks: Write jobs, read nodes */
 	slurmctld_lock_t job_write_lock = { 
 		NO_LOCK, WRITE_LOCK, READ_LOCK, NO_LOCK };