diff --git a/gcc/c-lex.c b/gcc/c-lex.c
index 6bae94e655a..0e07781b4bb 100644
--- a/gcc/c-lex.c
+++ b/gcc/c-lex.c
@@ -1738,7 +1738,7 @@ yylex ()
 	    /* ignore_escape_flag is set for reading the filename in #line.  */
 	    if (!ignore_escape_flag && c == '\\')
 	      {
-		int ignore;
+		int ignore = 0;
 		c = readescape (&ignore);
 		if (ignore)
 		  goto skipnewline;