diff --git a/hw/block/xen-block.c b/hw/block/xen-block.c
index 07bb32e22b..99cb4c67cb 100644
--- a/hw/block/xen-block.c
+++ b/hw/block/xen-block.c
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ static XenBlockIOThread *xen_block_iothread_create(const char *id,
     XenBlockIOThread *iothread = g_new(XenBlockIOThread, 1);
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     QDict *opts;
-    QObject *ret_data;
+    QObject *ret_data = NULL;
 
     iothread->id = g_strdup(id);