diff --git a/appl/popper/pop_debug.c b/appl/popper/pop_debug.c
index 3cd5e8ae2..e64859f65 100644
--- a/appl/popper/pop_debug.c
+++ b/appl/popper/pop_debug.c
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     struct hostent *hp;
     int s;
     struct sockaddr_in sa;
-    int optind;
+    int optind = 0;
 
     set_progname(argv[0]);