diff --git a/libs/surfaces/console1/c1_plugin_operations.cc b/libs/surfaces/console1/c1_plugin_operations.cc
index 791d781dc6..38c28ee1ec 100644
--- a/libs/surfaces/console1/c1_plugin_operations.cc
+++ b/libs/surfaces/console1/c1_plugin_operations.cc
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ Console1::load_mappings ()
 
 		std::string file_path = Glib::build_filename (path, file_name);
 		XMLTree tree;
-		XMLNode* mapping_xml;
+		XMLNode* mapping_xml = 0;
 		if (tree.read (file_path)) {
 			mapping_xml = new XMLNode (*(tree.root ()));
 		} else {
@@ -446,4 +446,4 @@ Console1::spill_plugins (const int32_t plugin_index)
 	return true;
 }
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}