diff --git a/src/xrt/ipc/ipc_utils.c b/src/xrt/ipc/ipc_utils.c
index 79ef61fda..4f5ff0391 100644
--- a/src/xrt/ipc/ipc_utils.c
+++ b/src/xrt/ipc/ipc_utils.c
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ ipc_send_fds(struct ipc_message_channel *imc,
 	assert(size != 0);
 	assert(handles != NULL);
 	assert(num_handles != 0);
-	union imcontrol_buf u;
+	union imcontrol_buf u = {0};
 	size_t cmsg_size = CMSG_SPACE(sizeof(int) * num_handles);
 
 	struct iovec iov = {0};