diff --git a/stagit.c b/stagit.c
index d318c13..85b782a 100644
--- a/stagit.c
+++ b/stagit.c
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ writeblob(git_object *obj, const char *fpath, const char *filename, git_off_t fi
 	if (mkdirp(d))
 		return -1;
 
-	for (p = fpath; *p; p++) {
+	for (p = fpath, tmp[0] = '\0'; *p; p++) {
 		if (*p == '/' && strlcat(tmp, "../", sizeof(tmp)) >= sizeof(tmp))
 			errx(1, "path truncated: '../%s'", tmp);
 		p++;