diff --git a/Modules/_pickle.c b/Modules/_pickle.c
index 68d2a60774b..c6cb8bc7c0e 100644
--- a/Modules/_pickle.c
+++ b/Modules/_pickle.c
@@ -1182,6 +1182,7 @@ _Unpickler_Read(UnpicklerObject *self, char **s, Py_ssize_t n)
 {
     Py_ssize_t num_read;
 
+    *s = NULL;
     if (self->next_read_idx > PY_SSIZE_T_MAX - n) {
         PickleState *st = _Pickle_GetGlobalState();
         PyErr_SetString(st->UnpicklingError,