diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
index a41c9037c6..2f1e8a57da 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
@@ -1144,7 +1144,7 @@ virLXCControllerSetupDevPTS(virLXCControllerPtr ctrl)
 {
     virDomainFSDefPtr root = virDomainGetRootFilesystem(ctrl->def);
     char *mount_options = NULL;
-    char *opts;
+    char *opts = NULL;
     char *devpts = NULL;
     int ret = -1;