diff --git a/icu4c/source/common/ucnv_bld.c b/icu4c/source/common/ucnv_bld.c
index b4bf90174f3..1b0c9f5e104 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/common/ucnv_bld.c
+++ b/icu4c/source/common/ucnv_bld.c
@@ -1050,6 +1050,7 @@ static UBool haveAvailableConverterList(UErrorCode *pErrorCode) {
         }
 
         /* Open the default converter to make sure that it has first dibs in the hash table. */
+        localStatus = U_ZERO_ERROR;
         ucnv_close(ucnv_createConverter(&tempConverter, NULL, &localStatus));
 
         localConverterCount = 0;