diff --git a/src/base/lib/timer/evtimer_fd.c b/src/base/lib/timer/evtimer_fd.c
index 55e5e3404..528a1cbfa 100644
--- a/src/base/lib/timer/evtimer_fd.c
+++ b/src/base/lib/timer/evtimer_fd.c
@@ -77,8 +77,9 @@ static void do_callback(struct evtimer *t)
 {
     uint64_t ticks;
 #ifdef HAVE_TIMERFD_CREATE
+    int rc;
 again:
-    int rc = read(t->fd, &ticks, sizeof(ticks));
+    rc = read(t->fd, &ticks, sizeof(ticks));
     if (rc == -1) {
         if (errno == EAGAIN)  // other thread modified timer
             goto again;