diff --git a/contrib/hxt/tetMesh/src/hxt_tetDelaunay.c b/contrib/hxt/tetMesh/src/hxt_tetDelaunay.c
index 6477bc5cbccb9a37a1cda342b85670976d1ad4dc..a25ea0e290b425bbce2e900696dfa1985503f334 100644
--- a/contrib/hxt/tetMesh/src/hxt_tetDelaunay.c
+++ b/contrib/hxt/tetMesh/src/hxt_tetDelaunay.c
@@ -1031,7 +1031,7 @@ static HXTStatus insertion(HXT2Sync* shared2sync,
   HXT_CHECK(status);
 
   if(!perfectDelaunay) {
-    int undeleteTet;
+    int undeleteTet = 0;
     if(edgeConstraint) {
       // printf("we have an edge constraint\n");
       HXT_CHECK( respectEdgeConstraint(local, mesh, vta, color, prevDeleted, &undeleteTet) );