diff --git a/clients/tools/ldapmodify.c b/clients/tools/ldapmodify.c
index 2d11045114f3b1d48eccec3a526d354588a32ded..54dd37912036259db873706f78f27aa1a9776ab3 100644
--- a/clients/tools/ldapmodify.c
+++ b/clients/tools/ldapmodify.c
@@ -903,8 +903,8 @@ parse_ldif_control(
 	char *s, *oidStart;
 	LDAPControl *newctrl = NULL;
 	LDAPControl **pctrls = NULL;
-	struct berval type, bv;
-	int freeval;
+	struct berval type, bv = BER_BVNULL;
+	int freeval = 0;
 
 	if (ppctrls) pctrls = *ppctrls;
 	/* OID should come first. Validate and extract it. */