diff --git a/subprojects/gstreamer-vaapi/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapiencoder.c b/subprojects/gstreamer-vaapi/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapiencoder.c
index 8ab33ca545..a33aa213eb 100644
--- a/subprojects/gstreamer-vaapi/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapiencoder.c
+++ b/subprojects/gstreamer-vaapi/gst-libs/gst/vaapi/gstvaapiencoder.c
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ get_compatible_profile (GstVaapiEncoder * encoder)
 {
   const GstVaapiEncoderClassData *const cdata =
       GST_VAAPI_ENCODER_GET_CLASS (encoder)->class_data;
-  GstVaapiProfile profile;
+  GstVaapiProfile profile = GST_VAAPI_PROFILE_UNKNOWN;
   GArray *profiles;
   guint i;