diff --git a/cde/lib/DtHelp/il/ilscalesample.c b/cde/lib/DtHelp/il/ilscalesample.c
index 87f995cea..e7cdda0bd 100644
--- a/cde/lib/DtHelp/il/ilscalesample.c
+++ b/cde/lib/DtHelp/il/ilscalesample.c
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ IL_PRIVATE void _ilScaleSample (
     )
 {
 
-ilScaleSamplePtr pPriv;
+ilScaleSamplePtr pPriv = NULL;
 ilDstElementData          dstdata;