diff --git a/drivers/net/sfc/sfc_flow.c b/drivers/net/sfc/sfc_flow.c
index c0ef415b56..890b2bbf04 100644
--- a/drivers/net/sfc/sfc_flow.c
+++ b/drivers/net/sfc/sfc_flow.c
@@ -1104,8 +1104,6 @@ sfc_flow_parse(struct rte_eth_dev *dev,
 	struct sfc_adapter *sa = dev->data->dev_private;
 	int rc;
 
-	memset(&flow->spec, 0, sizeof(flow->spec));
-
 	rc = sfc_flow_parse_attr(attr, flow, error);
 	if (rc != 0)
 		goto fail_bad_value;
@@ -1138,6 +1136,8 @@ sfc_flow_validate(struct rte_eth_dev *dev,
 {
 	struct rte_flow flow;
 
+	memset(&flow, 0, sizeof(flow));
+
 	return sfc_flow_parse(dev, attr, pattern, actions, &flow, error);
 }