diff --git a/lib/libproc/proc_create.c b/lib/libproc/proc_create.c
index 10a53cd90eb5..0d0c5a31e3f6 100644
--- a/lib/libproc/proc_create.c
+++ b/lib/libproc/proc_create.c
@@ -184,6 +184,9 @@ proc_create(const char *file, char * const *argv, proc_child_func *pcf,
 	if (elf_version(EV_CURRENT) == EV_NONE)
 		return (ENOENT);
 
+	error = 0;
+	phdl = NULL;
+
 	/* Fork a new process. */
 	if ((pid = vfork()) == -1)
 		error = errno;