diff --git a/src/udev/udev-builtin-hwdb.c b/src/udev/udev-builtin-hwdb.c
index f01d6154bc..458ce6968a 100644
--- a/src/udev/udev-builtin-hwdb.c
+++ b/src/udev/udev-builtin-hwdb.c
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #include "string-util.h"
 #include "udev-builtin.h"
 
-static sd_hwdb *hwdb;
+static sd_hwdb *hwdb = NULL;
 
 int udev_builtin_hwdb_lookup(
                 UdevEvent *event,