diff --git a/src/xkb/XKBMisc.c b/src/xkb/XKBMisc.c
index 880a616e9c4ac5977dfd73305d6e9eea43ff70d4..1ffb4404fe25b7831980f94e3289babb2642fcd0 100644
--- a/src/xkb/XKBMisc.c
+++ b/src/xkb/XKBMisc.c
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ XkbUpdateKeyTypeVirtualMods(XkbDescPtr xkb,
                             XkbChangesPtr changes)
 {
     register unsigned int i;
-    unsigned int mask;
+    unsigned int mask = 0;
 
     XkbVirtualModsToReal(xkb, type->mods.vmods, &mask);
     type->mods.mask = type->mods.real_mods | mask;