diff --git a/servers/slapd/syncrepl.c b/servers/slapd/syncrepl.c
index db87e5205c..7ed492ef29 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/syncrepl.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/syncrepl.c
@@ -2695,10 +2695,10 @@ attr_cmp( Operation *op, Attribute *old, Attribute *new,
 		for ( o=0; old->a_vals[o].bv_val; o++ ) ;
 		for ( n=0; new->a_vals[n].bv_val; n++ ) ;
 
-		/* there MUST be both onld and new values
-		 * (otherwise j is used uninitialized) */
+		/* there MUST be both old and new values */
 		assert( o != 0 );
 		assert( n != 0 );
+		j = 0;
 
 		adds = op->o_tmpalloc( sizeof(struct berval *) * n, op->o_tmpmemctx );
 		dels = op->o_tmpalloc( sizeof(struct berval *) * o, op->o_tmpmemctx );