diff --git a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
index d385b46f5f..ed34586105 100644
--- a/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
+++ b/src/nwfilter/nwfilter_driver.c
@@ -739,8 +739,8 @@ nwfilterBindingCreateXML(virConnectPtr conn,
                          const char *xml,
                          unsigned int flags)
 {
-    virNWFilterBindingObjPtr obj;
     virNWFilterBindingDefPtr def;
+    virNWFilterBindingObjPtr obj = NULL;
     virNWFilterBindingPtr ret = NULL;
 
     virCheckFlags(0, NULL);