diff --git a/test/unit/lib/bdev/bdev.c/bdev_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/bdev/bdev.c/bdev_ut.c
index e2689744b..a8e3dbdcb 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/bdev/bdev.c/bdev_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/bdev/bdev.c/bdev_ut.c
@@ -1787,7 +1787,7 @@ static void
 bdev_histograms(void)
 {
 	struct spdk_bdev *bdev;
-	struct spdk_bdev_desc *desc;
+	struct spdk_bdev_desc *desc = NULL;
 	struct spdk_io_channel *ch;
 	struct spdk_histogram_data *histogram;
 	uint8_t buf[4096];