diff --git a/OvmfPkg/Library/X86QemuLoadImageLib/X86QemuLoadImageLib.c b/OvmfPkg/Library/X86QemuLoadImageLib/X86QemuLoadImageLib.c
index e52ec668f3..ef753be7ea 100644
--- a/OvmfPkg/Library/X86QemuLoadImageLib/X86QemuLoadImageLib.c
+++ b/OvmfPkg/Library/X86QemuLoadImageLib/X86QemuLoadImageLib.c
@@ -291,6 +291,11 @@ QemuLoadKernelImage (
   CHAR8                     *CommandLine;
   UINTN                     InitrdSize;
 
+  //
+  // Redundant assignment to work around GCC48/GCC49 limitations.
+  //
+  CommandLine = NULL;
+
   //
   // Load the image. This should call back into the QEMU EFI loader file system.
   //