diff --git a/fs/ntfs3/index.c b/fs/ntfs3/index.c
index 8468cca5d54d..84ccc1409874 100644
--- a/fs/ntfs3/index.c
+++ b/fs/ntfs3/index.c
@@ -1987,7 +1987,7 @@ static int indx_free_children(struct ntfs_index *indx, struct ntfs_inode *ni,
 			      const struct NTFS_DE *e, bool trim)
 {
 	int err;
-	struct indx_node *n;
+	struct indx_node *n = NULL;
 	struct INDEX_HDR *hdr;
 	CLST vbn = de_get_vbn(e);
 	size_t i;