diff --git a/lib/libzutil/os/linux/zutil_setproctitle.c b/lib/libzutil/os/linux/zutil_setproctitle.c
index 5961527ebc..e63acceb4f 100644
--- a/lib/libzutil/os/linux/zutil_setproctitle.c
+++ b/lib/libzutil/os/linux/zutil_setproctitle.c
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ spt_copyenv(int envc, char *envp[])
 	char **envcopy;
 	char *eq;
 	int envsize;
-	int i, error;
+	int i, error = 0;
 
 	if (environ != envp)
 		return (0);