diff --git a/src/api/init_msg.c b/src/api/init_msg.c
index 2bb19b20bfe1b6d56218348cf67737fd584ea43d..eaef3df42ec0b5ba21ad931c93d8c823ce04cd20 100644
--- a/src/api/init_msg.c
+++ b/src/api/init_msg.c
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ void slurm_init_job_desc_msg(job_desc_msg_t * job_desc_msg)
 	job_desc_msg->task_dist		= (uint16_t) NO_VAL;
 	job_desc_msg->time_limit	= NO_VAL;
 	job_desc_msg->user_id		= NO_VAL;
+	job_desc_msg->wckey             = NULL;
 	job_desc_msg->work_dir		= NULL;
 }