diff --git a/module/nvpair/nvpair.c b/module/nvpair/nvpair.c
index a05b159b8d..a19764285e 100644
--- a/module/nvpair/nvpair.c
+++ b/module/nvpair/nvpair.c
@@ -1565,7 +1565,7 @@ nvlist_lookup_nvpair_ei_sep(nvlist_t *nvl, const char *name, const char sep,
 	char		*sepp = NULL;
 	char		*idxp, *idxep;
 	nvlist_t	**nva;
-	long		idx;
+	long		idx = 0;
 	int		n;
 
 	if (ip)