diff --git a/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4 b/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4
index 1e40dfc9b508558213284488e2482e67bbc5a2a3..a05fd1a18b980bf365db3d84139f76404641eace 100644
--- a/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4
+++ b/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4
@@ -993,7 +993,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([LC_FILE_WRITEV],
 LB_LINUX_TRY_COMPILE([
         #include <linux/fs.h>
 ],[
-        struct file_operations *fops;
+        struct file_operations *fops = NULL;
         fops->writev = NULL;
 ],[
         AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
@@ -1011,7 +1011,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([LC_FILE_READV],
 LB_LINUX_TRY_COMPILE([
         #include <linux/fs.h>
 ],[
-        struct file_operations *fops;
+        struct file_operations *fops = NULL;
         fops->readv = NULL;
 ],[
         AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)