diff --git a/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/connect.c b/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/connect.c
index 96f99ae072..db0bae1fe0 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/connect.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/ecpg/ecpglib/connect.c
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 #include "sqlca.h"
 
 #ifdef HAVE_USELOCALE
-locale_t	ecpg_clocale;
+locale_t	ecpg_clocale = (locale_t) 0;
 #endif
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_THREAD_SAFETY