diff --git a/src/core/unit.c b/src/core/unit.c
index 171567022fa..35ade55f239 100644
--- a/src/core/unit.c
+++ b/src/core/unit.c
@@ -4741,7 +4741,7 @@ void unit_warn_if_dir_nonempty(Unit *u, const char* where) {
 }
 
 int unit_fail_if_noncanonical(Unit *u, const char* where) {
-        _cleanup_free_ char *canonical_where;
+        _cleanup_free_ char *canonical_where = NULL;
         int r;
 
         assert(u);