diff --git a/dir.c b/dir.c
index 133f472a1e..d1e5e5e5bf 100644
--- a/dir.c
+++ b/dir.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ int add_excludes_from_file_to_list(const char *fname,
 {
 	struct stat st;
 	int fd, i;
-	size_t size;
+	size_t size = 0;
 	char *buf, *entry;
 
 	fd = open(fname, O_RDONLY);