diff --git a/modules/imgproc/src/spatialgradient.cpp b/modules/imgproc/src/spatialgradient.cpp
index f33c28d81..5119fa08f 100644
--- a/modules/imgproc/src/spatialgradient.cpp
+++ b/modules/imgproc/src/spatialgradient.cpp
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ void spatialGradient( InputArray _src, OutputArray _dx, OutputArray _dy,
               W = src.cols;
 
     // Row, column indices
-    int i, j;
+    int i = 0,
+        j = 0;
 
     // Store pointers to rows of input/output data
     // Padded by two rows for border handling