diff --git a/libavcodec/decode.c b/libavcodec/decode.c
index debbe36e0f..6ff3c401ba 100644
--- a/libavcodec/decode.c
+++ b/libavcodec/decode.c
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ static int compat_decode(AVCodecContext *avctx, AVFrame *frame,
                          int *got_frame, const AVPacket *pkt)
 {
     AVCodecInternal *avci = avctx->internal;
-    int ret;
+    int ret = 0;
 
     av_assert0(avci->compat_decode_consumed == 0);