diff --git a/ArduCopter/test.pde b/ArduCopter/test.pde
index 3a156b1e1dcb06a49bf4ea5b7b9ed9d8e04bb6ea..9524b5a027d3200e63330eb89b270cbf69a76f01 100644
--- a/ArduCopter/test.pde
+++ b/ArduCopter/test.pde
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ test_motorsync(uint8_t argc, const Menu::arg *argv)
 {
     bool     test_complete = false;
     bool     spin_motors = false;
-    uint32_t spin_start_time;
+    uint32_t spin_start_time = 0;
     uint32_t last_run_time;
     int16_t  last_throttle = 0;
     int16_t  c;