diff --git a/src/pack.c b/src/pack.c
index a8577d389..664e8efb0 100644
--- a/src/pack.c
+++ b/src/pack.c
@@ -1236,6 +1236,7 @@ static int pack_dependency_chain(git_dependency_chain *chain_out, struct git_pac
 	if (!p->bases.entries && (cache_init(&p->bases) < 0))
 		return -1;
 
+	git_array_init_to_size(chain, 64);
 	while (!found_base && error == 0) {
 		struct pack_chain_elem *elem;
 		git_pack_cache_entry *cached = NULL;