diff --git a/src/option.c b/src/option.c
index 6ebc2bd..dbb086d 100644
--- a/src/option.c
+++ b/src/option.c
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@
     static char_u *
 find_dup_item(char_u *origval, char_u *newval, long_u flags)
 {
-    int	    bs;
+    int	    bs = 0;
     size_t  newlen;
     char_u  *s;