diff --git a/converter/other/bmptopnm.c b/converter/other/bmptopnm.c

index 3f66634..ca4f944 100644

--- a/converter/other/bmptopnm.c

+++ b/converter/other/bmptopnm.c

@@ -1494,7 +1494,7 @@ readBmp(FILE *               const ifP,

         unsigned int *       const cmapSizeP,

         bool                 const verbose) {

-    xel * colormap;  /* malloc'ed */

+    xel * colormap = NULL;  /* malloc'ed */

     unsigned int pos;

         /* Current byte position in the BMP file */