diff --git a/libs/gib/gib_builtin.c b/libs/gib/gib_builtin.c
index e18f50301..0b4bf24a1 100644
--- a/libs/gib/gib_builtin.c
+++ b/libs/gib/gib_builtin.c
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ void
 GIB_File_Read_f (void)
 {
 	QFile      *file;
-	char       *path, *contents;
+	char       *path, *contents = 0;
 	int        len;
 
 	if (GIB_Argc () != 2) {