diff --git a/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4 b/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4
index 08a573fda46a21e1df30856f4fcafe509be6fa72..657dbef9815510e10d47d591efb24c7985d05288 100644
--- a/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4
+++ b/lustre/autoconf/lustre-core.m4
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ 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)
@@ -1135,7 +1135,7 @@ 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)