diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
index 40fa4b55cf..35fd495c50 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
@@ -1496,7 +1496,7 @@ libxlDriverConfigNew(void)
 {
     libxlDriverConfigPtr cfg;
     char *log_file = NULL;
-    xentoollog_level log_level;
+    xentoollog_level log_level = XTL_DEBUG;
     char ebuf[1024];
     unsigned int free_mem;