diff --git a/ip/link_veth.c b/ip/link_veth.c
index 3d19b01..eb0f41e 100644
--- a/ip/link_veth.c
+++ b/ip/link_veth.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ static void usage(void)
 static int veth_parse_opt(struct link_util *lu, int argc, char **argv,
 			  struct nlmsghdr *hdr)
 {
-	char *name, *type, *link, *dev;
+	char *name = NULL, *type = NULL, *link = NULL, *dev = NULL;
 	int err, len;
 	struct rtattr * data;
 	int group;