diff --git a/src/libei-socket.c b/src/libei-socket.c
index a30bb08..50e3027 100644
--- a/src/libei-socket.c
+++ b/src/libei-socket.c
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ ei_setup_backend_socket(struct ei *ei, const char *socketpath)
 	assert(socketpath);
 	assert(socketpath[0] != '\0');
 
-	_cleanup_free_ char *path;
+	_cleanup_free_ char *path = NULL;
 	if (socketpath[0] == '/') {
 		path = xstrdup(socketpath);
 	} else {
diff --git a/src/libeis-socket.c b/src/libeis-socket.c
index 664c17a..ceb5b24 100644
--- a/src/libeis-socket.c
+++ b/src/libeis-socket.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ eis_setup_backend_socket(struct eis *eis, const char *socketpath)
 	_cleanup_(eis_socket_cleanup) struct eis_socket *eis_socket =
 		eis_socket_create(&eis->object);
 
-	_cleanup_free_ char *path;
+	_cleanup_free_ char *path = NULL;
 	if (socketpath[0] == '/') {
 		path = xstrdup(socketpath);
 	} else {