diff --git a/libs/libc/modlib/modlib_init.c b/libs/libc/modlib/modlib_init.c
index 4b14196dc8..aa1b0f61ac 100644
--- a/libs/libc/modlib/modlib_init.c
+++ b/libs/libc/modlib/modlib_init.c
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ int modlib_initialize(FAR const char *filename,
   /* Clear the load info structure */
 
   memset(loadinfo, 0, sizeof(struct mod_loadinfo_s));
+  loadinfo->filfd = -1;
 
   /* Get the length of the file. */