diff --git a/fs/nilfs2/btree.c b/fs/nilfs2/btree.c
index 7cdd98b8d514..76c38e3e19d2 100644
--- a/fs/nilfs2/btree.c
+++ b/fs/nilfs2/btree.c
@@ -1879,7 +1879,7 @@ static int nilfs_btree_propagate_v(struct nilfs_btree *btree,
 				   struct nilfs_btree_path *path,
 				   int level, struct buffer_head *bh)
 {
-	int maxlevel, ret;
+	int maxlevel = 0, ret;
 	struct nilfs_btree_node *parent;
 	struct inode *dat = nilfs_bmap_get_dat(&btree->bt_bmap);
 	__u64 ptr;