diff --git a/lib/dns/message.c b/lib/dns/message.c
index 0fc6b58f5b..0ad25ae119 100644
--- a/lib/dns/message.c
+++ b/lib/dns/message.c
@@ -1213,8 +1213,8 @@ getsection(isc_buffer_t *source, dns_message_t *msg, dns_decompress_t *dctx,
 {
 	isc_region_t r;
 	unsigned int count, rdatalen;
-	dns_name_t *name;
-	dns_name_t *name2;
+	dns_name_t *name = NULL;
+	dns_name_t *name2 = NULL;
 	dns_offsets_t *offsets;
 	dns_rdataset_t *rdataset;
 	dns_rdatalist_t *rdatalist;
@@ -1224,7 +1224,7 @@ getsection(isc_buffer_t *source, dns_message_t *msg, dns_decompress_t *dctx,
 	dns_rdata_t *rdata;
 	dns_ttl_t ttl;
 	dns_namelist_t *section;
-	isc_boolean_t free_name, free_rdataset;
+	isc_boolean_t free_name = ISC_FALSE, free_rdataset = ISC_FALSE;
 	isc_boolean_t preserve_order, best_effort, seen_problem;
 	isc_boolean_t issigzero;