diff --git a/lib/connect.c b/lib/connect.c
index 34dd72c28..ec68162c3 100644
--- a/lib/connect.c
+++ b/lib/connect.c
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ CURLcode Curl_connecthost(struct connectdata *conn,
   struct timeval before = Curl_tvnow();
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_IPV6
+  struct addrinfo *ai;
   /*
    * Connecting with IPv6 support is so much easier and cleanly done
    */