diff --git a/src/sbbs3/mailsrvr.c b/src/sbbs3/mailsrvr.c
index 7c1dbcbcf2c2f961703293f2cfa11cd74aba3292..9a4e49ca7ab3bdd9da83e417097c4f79d23e2a29 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/mailsrvr.c
+++ b/src/sbbs3/mailsrvr.c
@@ -4995,7 +4995,7 @@ static SOCKET sendmail_negotiate(CRYPT_SESSION *session, smb_t *smb, smbmsg_t *m
 {
 	int i;
 	int tls_retry;
-	SOCKET sock;
+	SOCKET sock=INVALID_SOCKET;
 	list_node_t*	node;
 	ulong		ip_addr;
 	union xp_sockaddr	server_addr;