diff --git a/icu4c/source/i18n/tridpars.cpp b/icu4c/source/i18n/tridpars.cpp
index d23e63b6b7a..a772aaddd53 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/i18n/tridpars.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/i18n/tridpars.cpp
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ Transliterator* TransliteratorIDParser::SingleID::createInstance() {
     }
     if (t != NULL) {
         if (filter.length() != 0) {
-            UErrorCode ec;
+            UErrorCode ec = U_ZERO_ERROR;
             UnicodeSet *set = new UnicodeSet(filter, ec);
             if (U_FAILURE(ec)) {
                 delete set;