diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 90db1d30ede75469ecf341296b591cd8f576d4d6..3610f0d031f675c6c7d03220deeeedeaf4ce5b1d 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -1392,7 +1392,7 @@ int write_file(const char *name, int tmp, int append, int nonamechange)
     size_t lineswritten = 0;
     const filestruct *fileptr = fileage;
     int fd;
-    mode_t original_umask;
+    mode_t original_umask = 0;
 	/* Our umask, from when nano started. */
     int realexists;
 	/* The result of stat().  TRUE if the file exists, FALSE