diff --git a/selfdrive/boardd/panda.cc b/selfdrive/boardd/panda.cc
index 647a0d9c78..4ad4b5e652 100644
--- a/selfdrive/boardd/panda.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/boardd/panda.cc
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ void Panda::pack_can_buffer(const capnp::List<cereal::CanData>::Reader &can_data
     assert(can_data.size() <= 64);
     assert(can_data.size() == dlc_to_len[data_len_code]);
 
-    can_header header;
+    can_header header = {};
     header.addr = cmsg.getAddress();
     header.extended = (cmsg.getAddress() >= 0x800) ? 1 : 0;
     header.data_len_code = data_len_code;