diff --git a/src/bin/pg_dump/compress_io.c b/src/bin/pg_dump/compress_io.c
index 66d24197253..8540a75d113 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_dump/compress_io.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_dump/compress_io.c
@@ -535,6 +535,7 @@ cfopen_write(const char *path, const char *mode, int compression)
 		free(fname);
 #else
 		die_horribly(NULL, modulename, "not built with zlib support\n");
+		fp = NULL;				/* keep compiler quiet */
 #endif
 	}
 	return fp;