diff --git a/RTCP/Storage/src/MSWriterFile.cc b/RTCP/Storage/src/MSWriterFile.cc
index 2f6e07da8ac0e4a8739beab9c2240ceb2adfddfd..9fa8b6d8d535c37639adff8510f46382eae6f571 100644
--- a/RTCP/Storage/src/MSWriterFile.cc
+++ b/RTCP/Storage/src/MSWriterFile.cc
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ MSWriterFile::~MSWriterFile()
 
 void MSWriterFile::write(StreamableData *data)
 {
-  uint32_t magicValue;
+  uint32_t magicValue = 0; // initialise to satisfy compiler
 
   if (itsOldFileFormat) {
     ASSERT( FastFileStream::alignment == 512 );