diff --git a/src/c/cinit.d b/src/c/cinit.d
index 21b7e0b53..efeb13454 100644
--- a/src/c/cinit.d
+++ b/src/c/cinit.d
@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ extern cl_object
 si_safe_eval(cl_narg narg, cl_object form, cl_object env, ...)
 {
         if (narg == 3) {
+                cl_object err_value;
                 va_list args; va_start(args, env);
-                cl_object err_value = va_arg(args, cl_object);
+                err_value = va_arg(args, cl_object);
                 return cl_funcall(4, @'si::safe-eval', form, env, err_value);
         }
         return cl_funcall(3, @'si::safe-eval', form, env);
@@ -49,8 +50,9 @@ extern cl_object
 si_string_to_object(cl_narg narg, cl_object string, ...)
 {
         if (narg == 2) {
+                cl_object err_value;
                 va_list args; va_start(args, string);
-                cl_object err_value = va_arg(args, cl_object);
+                err_value = va_arg(args, cl_object);
                 return cl_funcall(3, @'si::string-to-object', string, err_value);
         }
         return cl_funcall(2, @'si::string-to-object', string);