diff --git a/src/cpplogging/manager/consumer/formatting.cpp b/src/cpplogging/manager/consumer/formatting.cpp
index 377c48e..a21b0a1 100644
--- a/src/cpplogging/manager/consumer/formatting.cpp
+++ b/src/cpplogging/manager/consumer/formatting.cpp
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ consumer::format_type consumer::parse_format(const std::string& format)
     const char * s = format.c_str();
     const char * e = s + format.size();
     const char * c = s;
-    const char * x;
+    const char * x = s;
     char * tmp;
     unsigned long long int u;
     format_item item;