diff --git a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ipt_ULOG.c b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ipt_ULOG.c
index cbc22158af49..9cb993cd224b 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/netfilter/ipt_ULOG.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/netfilter/ipt_ULOG.c
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ static void ipt_ulog_packet(struct net *net,
 	ub->qlen++;
 
 	pm = nlmsg_data(nlh);
+	memset(pm, 0, sizeof(*pm));
 
 	/* We might not have a timestamp, get one */
 	if (skb->tstamp.tv64 == 0)
@@ -238,8 +239,6 @@ static void ipt_ulog_packet(struct net *net,
 	}
 	else if (loginfo->prefix[0] != '\0')
 		strncpy(pm->prefix, loginfo->prefix, sizeof(pm->prefix));
-	else
-		*(pm->prefix) = '\0';
 
 	if (in && in->hard_header_len > 0 &&
 	    skb->mac_header != skb->network_header &&
@@ -251,13 +250,9 @@ static void ipt_ulog_packet(struct net *net,
 
 	if (in)
 		strncpy(pm->indev_name, in->name, sizeof(pm->indev_name));
-	else
-		pm->indev_name[0] = '\0';
 
 	if (out)
 		strncpy(pm->outdev_name, out->name, sizeof(pm->outdev_name));
-	else
-		pm->outdev_name[0] = '\0';
 
 	/* copy_len <= skb->len, so can't fail. */
 	if (skb_copy_bits(skb, 0, pm->payload, copy_len) < 0)