diff --git a/psplash.c b/psplash.c
index ee1af6b..0db0aa4 100644
--- a/psplash.c
+++ b/psplash.c
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ psplash_main (PSplashFB *fb, int pipe_fd, int
timeout)
 {
   int            err;
   ssize_t        length = 0;
+  ssize_t        ret = 0;
   fd_set         descriptors;
   struct timeval tv;