diff --git a/src/jv_file.c b/src/jv_file.c
index 3159df53..a5829a8f 100644
--- a/src/jv_file.c
+++ b/src/jv_file.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 jv jv_load_file(const char* filename, int raw) {
   FILE* file = fopen(filename, "r");
-  struct jv_parser* parser;
+  struct jv_parser* parser = NULL;
   jv data;
   if (!file) {
     return jv_invalid_with_msg(jv_string_fmt("Could not open %s: %s",