diff --git a/sched/semaphore/sem_holder.c b/sched/semaphore/sem_holder.c
index 9aeaa28bbb..cd8b26c662 100644
--- a/sched/semaphore/sem_holder.c
+++ b/sched/semaphore/sem_holder.c
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ static FAR struct semholder_s *sem_findholder(sem_t *sem,
     }
 #else
   int i;
+  pholder = NULL;
 
   /* We have two hard-allocated holder structuse in sem_t */