diff --git a/compat/getdelim.c b/compat/getdelim.c
index 1bedef7c..407f3d07 100644
--- a/compat/getdelim.c
+++ b/compat/getdelim.c
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 ssize_t
 getdelim (char **lineptr, size_t *n, int delimiter, FILE *fp)
 {
-  ssize_t result;
+  ssize_t result = -1;
   size_t cur_len = 0;
 
   if (lineptr == NULL || n == NULL || fp == NULL)