diff --git a/misc-utils/mcookie.c b/misc-utils/mcookie.c
index fd4227a098f..8598ac3452d 100644
--- a/misc-utils/mcookie.c
+++ b/misc-utils/mcookie.c
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (ctl.maxsz && ctl.nfiles == 0)
 		warnx(_("--max-size ignored when used without --file"));
 
+	ul_MD5Init(&ctl.ctx);
 	randomness_from_files(&ctl);
 	free(ctl.files);