diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c
index 8949d0bcd5..53409529f3 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ checkout_one_file_at (OstreeRepo                        *repo,
     }
   else
     {
-      HardlinkResult hardlink_res;
+      HardlinkResult hardlink_res = HARDLINK_RESULT_NOT_SUPPORTED;
       /* Try to do a hardlink first, if it's a regular file.  This also
        * traverses all parent repos.
        */
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@ checkout_one_file_at (OstreeRepo                        *repo,
       && repo->mode == OSTREE_REPO_MODE_ARCHIVE_Z2
       && options->mode == OSTREE_REPO_CHECKOUT_MODE_USER)
     {
-      HardlinkResult hardlink_res;
+      HardlinkResult hardlink_res = HARDLINK_RESULT_NOT_SUPPORTED;
       
       if (!ostree_repo_load_file (repo, checksum, &input, NULL, NULL,
                                   cancellable, error))