diff --git a/src/bcast/file_bcast.c b/src/bcast/file_bcast.c
index 83950a7a99681989df2b972e933072999d046af5..427898e745d7aca310a1457d0b5bc0b0665d5346 100644
--- a/src/bcast/file_bcast.c
+++ b/src/bcast/file_bcast.c
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ static int _bcast_file(struct bcast_parameters *params)
 	int rc = SLURM_SUCCESS;
 	file_bcast_msg_t bcast_msg;
 	char *buffer = NULL;
-	int32_t orig_len;
+	int32_t orig_len = 0;
 	uint32_t size_uncompressed = 0, size_compressed = 0;
 	uint32_t time_compression = 0;
 	bool more = true;