diff --git a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
index 922f351e429..cd143a4ae16 100644
--- a/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/_cursesmodule.c
@@ -1763,7 +1763,8 @@ PyCurses_EraseChar(PyObject *self)
 static PyObject *
 PyCurses_getsyx(PyObject *self)
 {
-  int x,y;
+  int x = 0;
+  int y = 0;
 
   PyCursesInitialised