diff --git a/hw/misc/aspeed_hace.c b/hw/misc/aspeed_hace.c
index 12a761f1f5..b07506ec04 100644
--- a/hw/misc/aspeed_hace.c
+++ b/hw/misc/aspeed_hace.c
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ static void do_hash_operation(AspeedHACEState *s, int algo, bool sg_mode,
                               bool acc_mode)
 {
     struct iovec iov[ASPEED_HACE_MAX_SG];
-    g_autofree uint8_t *digest_buf;
+    g_autofree uint8_t *digest_buf = NULL;
     size_t digest_len = 0;
     int niov = 0;
     int i;