diff --git a/valid.c b/valid.c
index a4a9b61..35c21ae 100644
--- a/valid.c
+++ b/valid.c
@@ -2716,7 +2716,7 @@
     } else if (elem == NULL) {
 	return(0);
     } else {
-	xmlAttributePtr attrDecl;
+	xmlAttributePtr attrDecl = NULL;
 
 	xmlChar felem[50], fattr[50];
 	xmlChar *fullelemname, *fullattrname;