diff --git a/libnm-core/nm-keyfile-utils.c b/libnm-core/nm-keyfile-utils.c
index 1ddc1b59e6..10981efcf4 100644
--- a/libnm-core/nm-keyfile-utils.c
+++ b/libnm-core/nm-keyfile-utils.c
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ _nm_keyfile_equals (GKeyFile *kf_a, GKeyFile *kf_b)
 gboolean
 _nm_keyfile_has_values (GKeyFile *keyfile)
 {
-	gs_strfreev char **groups;
+	gs_strfreev char **groups = NULL;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (keyfile, FALSE);