diff --git a/src/submodule.c b/src/submodule.c
index fc3dcb406..1c17075bf 100644
--- a/src/submodule.c
+++ b/src/submodule.c
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ done:
 static int submodules_from_head(git_strmap *map, git_tree *head, git_config *cfg)
 {
 	int error;
-	git_iterator *i;
+	git_iterator *i = NULL;
 	const git_index_entry *entry;
 	git_strmap *names = 0;
 	git_strmap_alloc(&names);