diff --git a/src/tests.c b/src/tests.c
index f70ef2d99..597e7fbc8 100644
--- a/src/tests.c
+++ b/src/tests.c
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ const message_type *register_msg(const char *type, int n_param, ...) {
 void assert_messages(struct CuTest * tc, struct mlist *msglist, const message_type **types,
     int num_msgs, bool exact_match, ...) {
     va_list args;
-    int found, argc = -1;
+    int found = 0, argc = -1;
     struct message *msg;
     bool match = true;