diff --git a/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c b/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
index bb6bce98f8cc..d74a12838f9e 100644
--- a/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
+++ b/src/modules/kvs/kvs.c
@@ -2715,10 +2715,10 @@ static int checkpoint_get (flux_t *h, const char *key,
                            char *buf, size_t len,
                            double *timestamp)
 {
-    flux_future_t *f;
+    flux_future_t *f = NULL;
     const char *value = NULL;
     json_t *o = NULL;
-    const char *rootref;
+    const char *rootref = NULL;
     int rv = -1;
 
     if (!(f = flux_rpc_pack (h,