diff --git a/src/core/keybindings.c b/src/core/keybindings.c
index 2a8063eb5..ed34aea30 100644
--- a/src/core/keybindings.c
+++ b/src/core/keybindings.c
@@ -1379,8 +1379,8 @@ meta_display_grab_accelerator (MetaDisplay *display,
   MetaKeyBindingManager *keys = &display->key_binding_manager;
   MetaKeyBinding *binding;
   MetaKeyGrab *grab;
-  MetaKeyCombo combo;
-  MetaResolvedKeyCombo resolved_combo;
+  MetaKeyCombo combo = { 0 };
+  MetaResolvedKeyCombo resolved_combo = { 0 };
 
   if (!meta_parse_accelerator (accelerator, &combo))
     {
diff --git a/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c b/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c
index 9cea4887e..6f3c912bb 100644
--- a/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c
+++ b/src/core/meta-accel-parse.c
@@ -326,6 +326,10 @@ gboolean
 meta_parse_accelerator (const char   *accel,
                         MetaKeyCombo *combo)
 {
+  g_return_val_if_fail (combo != NULL, FALSE);
+
+  *combo = (MetaKeyCombo) { 0 };
+
   if (!accel[0] || strcmp (accel, "disabled") == 0)
     return TRUE;
 
@@ -336,7 +340,11 @@ gboolean
 meta_parse_modifier (const char          *accel,
                      MetaVirtualModifier *mask)
 {
-  MetaKeyCombo combo;
+  MetaKeyCombo combo = { 0 };
+
+  g_return_val_if_fail (mask != NULL, FALSE);
+
+  *mask = 0;
 
   if (accel == NULL || !accel[0] || strcmp (accel, "disabled") == 0)
     return TRUE;