diff --git a/contrib/ipfilter/lib/gethost.c b/contrib/ipfilter/lib/gethost.c
index 0206e87180cf..14099e25c372 100644
--- a/contrib/ipfilter/lib/gethost.c
+++ b/contrib/ipfilter/lib/gethost.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ int gethost(family, name, hostp)
 	struct netent *n;
 	u_32_t addr;
 
+	bzero(hostp, sizeof(*hostp));
 	if (!strcmp(name, "test.host.dots")) {
 		if (family == AF_INET) {
 			hostp->in4.s_addr = htonl(0xfedcba98);