diff --git a/lib/multi.c b/lib/multi.c
index 0d2fcf7ff..93891bf04 100644
--- a/lib/multi.c
+++ b/lib/multi.c
@@ -588,6 +588,8 @@ CURLMsg *curl_multi_info_read(CURLM *multi_handle, int *msgs_in_queue)
 {
   struct Curl_multi *multi=(struct Curl_multi *)multi_handle;
 
+  *msgs_in_queue = 0; /* default to none */
+
   if(GOOD_MULTI_HANDLE(multi)) {
     struct Curl_one_easy *easy;