diff --git a/Python/sysmodule.c b/Python/sysmodule.c
index 84f17389559cf6..6e9ec90c9d1c3e 100644
--- a/Python/sysmodule.c
+++ b/Python/sysmodule.c
@@ -3020,7 +3020,7 @@ _PySys_InitCore(PyThreadState *tstate, PyObject *sysdict)
 static int
 sys_add_xoption(PyObject *opts, const wchar_t *s)
 {
-    PyObject *name, *value;
+    PyObject *name, *value = NULL;
 
     const wchar_t *name_end = wcschr(s, L'=');
     if (!name_end) {