diff --git a/flang/runtime/io-api.cpp b/flang/runtime/io-api.cpp
index 09639c136c2af..4d569f898ea8b 100644
--- a/flang/runtime/io-api.cpp
+++ b/flang/runtime/io-api.cpp
@@ -1451,15 +1451,14 @@ bool IONAME(InquirePendingId)(Cookie cookie, std::int64_t id, bool &result) {
 bool IONAME(InquireInteger64)(
     Cookie cookie, InquiryKeywordHash inquiry, std::int64_t &result, int kind) {
   IoStatementState &io{*cookie};
-  std::int64_t n;
+  std::int64_t n{0}; // safe "undefined" value
   if (io.Inquire(inquiry, n)) {
     if (SetInteger(result, kind, n)) {
       return true;
     }
     io.GetIoErrorHandler().SignalError(
         "InquireInteger64(): bad INTEGER kind(%d) or out-of-range "
-        "value(%jd) "
-        "for result",
+        "value(%jd) for result",
         kind, static_cast<std::intmax_t>(n));
   }
   return false;