diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index efb618fc8ffe..cb46befdd3a0 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -1787,7 +1787,7 @@ asmlinkage long sys_unshare(unsigned long unshare_flags)
 int unshare_files(struct files_struct **displaced)
 {
 	struct task_struct *task = current;
-	struct files_struct *copy;
+	struct files_struct *copy = NULL;
 	int error;
 
 	error = unshare_fd(CLONE_FILES, &copy);