diff --git a/sycl-jit/jit-compiler/lib/rtc/DeviceCompilation.cpp b/sycl-jit/jit-compiler/lib/rtc/DeviceCompilation.cpp
index c6020eb9a4ca4..09177100a3941 100644
--- a/sycl-jit/jit-compiler/lib/rtc/DeviceCompilation.cpp
+++ b/sycl-jit/jit-compiler/lib/rtc/DeviceCompilation.cpp
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ struct auto_pch_key {
   Error read(llvm::BinaryStreamReader &Reader) {
     (void)AutoPCHError::ID;
     auto ReadStr = [&](std::string &Out) -> Error {
-      std::string::size_type StrLen;
+      std::string::size_type StrLen = 0;
 
       if (auto Err = Reader.readInteger(StrLen))
         return Err;