diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c b/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c
index e0173c7f17b1..254614b10c4a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ static int parse_gfp_flags(struct perf_evsel *evsel, struct perf_sample *sample,
 		.size = sample->raw_size,
 	};
 	struct trace_seq seq;
-	char *str, *pos;
+	char *str, *pos = NULL;
 
 	if (nr_gfps) {
 		struct gfp_flag key = {