diff --git a/src/plugins/sched/backfill/backfill.c b/src/plugins/sched/backfill/backfill.c
index 254d0970e64a79b8611b02796ae8b8ada69e4fa8..3ad915e0f81202b6f2cd16aaca1cc0f086cea299 100644
--- a/src/plugins/sched/backfill/backfill.c
+++ b/src/plugins/sched/backfill/backfill.c
@@ -1149,10 +1149,15 @@ static int _attempt_backfill(void)
 		if (qos_ptr) {
 			qos_flags = qos_ptr->flags;
 			qos_blocked_until = qos_ptr->blocked_until;
+		} else {
+			qos_flags = 0;
+			qos_blocked_until = 0;
 		}
 
 		if (qos_part_ptr)
 			qos_part_blocked_until = qos_part_ptr->blocked_until;
+		else
+			qos_part_blocked_until = 0;
 
 		if (part_policy_valid_qos(job_ptr->part_ptr, qos_ptr) !=
 		    SLURM_SUCCESS) {