diff --git a/lib/nl.c b/lib/nl.c
index 5616dcc..8f6f5f1 100644
--- a/lib/nl.c
+++ b/lib/nl.c
@@ -427,6 +427,8 @@ int nl_recv(struct nl_sock *sk, struct sockaddr_nl *nla,
 	};
 	struct cmsghdr *cmsg;
 
+	memset(nla, 0, sizeof(*nla));
+
 	if (sk->s_flags & NL_MSG_PEEK)
 		flags |= MSG_PEEK;