diff --git a/fs/ntfs3/index.c b/fs/ntfs3/index.c
index 1bf2a6593dec..3c44af1af9a0 100644
--- a/fs/ntfs3/index.c
+++ b/fs/ntfs3/index.c
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ static struct NTFS_DE *hdr_find_e(const struct ntfs_index *indx,
 				  const struct INDEX_HDR *hdr, const void *key,
 				  size_t key_len, const void *ctx, int *diff)
 {
-	struct NTFS_DE *e, *found = NULL;
+	struct NTFS_DE *e = NULL, *found = NULL;
 	NTFS_CMP_FUNC cmp = indx->cmp;
 	int min_idx = 0, mid_idx, max_idx = 0;
 	int diff2;