diff --git a/src/winio.c b/src/winio.c
index b04b51c61351e6404192d0bca4dcd9baae9690b7..b08ae88a85fdb01a57b113db8b3ab9b4a3dc9e41 100644
--- a/src/winio.c
+++ b/src/winio.c
@@ -2269,7 +2269,7 @@ void onekey(const char *keystroke, const char *desc, int length)
  * and put the cursor in the edit window at (current_y, "current_x"). */
 void reset_cursor(void)
 {
-    ssize_t row;
+    ssize_t row = 0;
     size_t col, xpt = xplustabs();
 
 #ifndef NANO_TINY