diff --git a/funcs/func_strings.c b/funcs/func_strings.c
index caa3b14327..e4f943e374 100644
--- a/funcs/func_strings.c
+++ b/funcs/func_strings.c
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ ASTERISK_FILE_VERSION(__FILE__, "$Revision$")
 static int function_fieldqty(struct ast_channel *chan, char *cmd,
 			     char *parse, char *buf, size_t len)
 {
-	char *varname, *varsubst, varval[8192] = "", *varval2 = varval;
+	char *varname = NULL, *varsubst, varval[8192] = "", *varval2 = varval;
 	int fieldcount = 0;
 	AST_DECLARE_APP_ARGS(args,
 			     AST_APP_ARG(varname);