diff --git a/src/plugins/texteditor/texteditor.cpp b/src/plugins/texteditor/texteditor.cpp
index 56627add292..3594493013b 100644
--- a/src/plugins/texteditor/texteditor.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/texteditor/texteditor.cpp
@@ -5886,7 +5886,7 @@ void TextEditorWidget::extraAreaMouseEvent(QMouseEvent *e)
 {
     QTextCursor cursor = cursorForPosition(QPoint(0, e->pos().y()));
 
-    int markWidth;
+    int markWidth = 0;
     extraAreaWidth(&markWidth);
     const bool inMarkArea = e->pos().x() <= markWidth && e->pos().x() >= 0;