diff --git a/fanout.c b/fanout.c
index e5eb7236c5060e479af599bfe6faa07b83e23344..4230e1e6f1893b9df31bd1a1b1e109745516fbbd 100644
--- a/fanout.c
+++ b/fanout.c
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
     socklen_t optlen = sizeof(optval);
     u_int listen_backlog = 25;
     u_int max_events = 25;
-    char *pidfilename;
+    char *pidfilename = NULL;
     server_start_time = (long)time (NULL);
     char buffer[1025];