diff --git a/src/tls.c b/src/tls.c
index 209bc5d67..d9b08cbd9 100644
--- a/src/tls.c
+++ b/src/tls.c
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ int BuildTlsHandshakeHash(WOLFSSL* ssl, byte* hash, word32* hashLen)
 int BuildTlsFinished(WOLFSSL* ssl, Hashes* hashes, const byte* sender)
 {
     int ret;
-    const byte* side;
+    const byte* side = NULL;
     word32 hashSz = HSHASH_SZ;
 #if defined(WOLFSSL_ASYNC_CRYPT) && !defined(WC_ASYNC_NO_HASH)
     WC_DECLARE_VAR(handshake_hash, byte, HSHASH_SZ, ssl->heap);