diff --git a/src/rawmidi/rawmidi.c b/src/rawmidi/rawmidi.c
index 2a2726ed..c2d2c46c 100644
--- a/src/rawmidi/rawmidi.c
+++ b/src/rawmidi/rawmidi.c
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ static int snd_rawmidi_open_conf(snd_rawmidi_t **inputp, snd_rawmidi_t **outputp
 #ifndef PIC
 	extern void *snd_rawmidi_open_symbols(void);
 #endif
-	void *h;
+	void *h = NULL;
 	if (snd_config_get_type(rawmidi_conf) != SND_CONFIG_TYPE_COMPOUND) {
 		if (name)
 			SNDERR("Invalid type for RAWMIDI %s definition", name);