diff --git a/src/Xrd/XrdSendQ.cc b/src/Xrd/XrdSendQ.cc
index cb11e3177b3..2cd5e33087d 100644
--- a/src/Xrd/XrdSendQ.cc
+++ b/src/Xrd/XrdSendQ.cc
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ int XrdSendQ::SendNB(const char *Buff, int Blen)
 #if !defined(__linux__)
    return -1;
 #else
-   ssize_t retc, bytesleft = Blen;
+   ssize_t retc = 0, bytesleft = Blen;
 
 // Write the data out
 //