diff --git a/src/bankd_main.c b/src/bankd_main.c
index f84d0d0..a2dccea 100644
--- a/src/bankd_main.c
+++ b/src/bankd_main.c
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ static int worker_transceive_loop(struct bankd_worker *worker)
 	uint8_t buf[65536]; /* maximum length expressed in 16bit length field */
 	asn_dec_rval_t rval;
 	int data_len, rc;
-	RsproPDU_t *pdu;
+	RsproPDU_t *pdu = NULL;
 
 	/* 1) blocking read of entire IPA message from the socket */
 	rc = blocking_ipa_read(worker->client.fd, buf, sizeof(buf));
diff --git a/src/rspro_util.c b/src/rspro_util.c
index 79c7c03..82adb88 100644
--- a/src/rspro_util.c
+++ b/src/rspro_util.c
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ struct msgb *rspro_enc_msg(RsproPDU_t *pdu)
 /* consumes 'msg' _if_ it is successful */
 RsproPDU_t *rspro_dec_msg(struct msgb *msg)
 {
-	RsproPDU_t *pdu;
+	RsproPDU_t *pdu = NULL;
 	asn_dec_rval_t rval;
 
 	printf("decoding %s\n", msgb_hexdump(msg));