diff --git a/src/plugins/mpi/pmix/pmixp_utils.c b/src/plugins/mpi/pmix/pmixp_utils.c
index 1a4cc07aca25561f4766ad25492fec973eb77f8d..01d6c0de3dc8120e1bff3f226c0141a849ec9562 100644
--- a/src/plugins/mpi/pmix/pmixp_utils.c
+++ b/src/plugins/mpi/pmix/pmixp_utils.c
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ bool pmixp_fd_write_ready(int fd, int *shutdown)
 	double start, cur;
 	pfd[0].fd = fd;
 	pfd[0].events = POLLOUT;
+	pfd[0].revents = 0;
 
 	gettimeofday(&tv,NULL);
 	start = tv.tv_sec + 1E-6*tv.tv_usec;