diff --git a/tools/lib/bpf/btf_dump.c b/tools/lib/bpf/btf_dump.c
index 9bcd75dc12cc..f620911ad3bb 100644
--- a/tools/lib/bpf/btf_dump.c
+++ b/tools/lib/bpf/btf_dump.c
@@ -1915,7 +1915,7 @@ static int btf_dump_struct_data(struct btf_dump *d,
 {
 	const struct btf_member *m = btf_members(t);
 	__u16 n = btf_vlen(t);
-	int i, err;
+	int i, err = 0;
 
 	/* note that we increment depth before calling btf_dump_print() below;
 	 * this is intentional.  btf_dump_data_newline() will not print a