diff --git a/sbin/routed/trace.c b/sbin/routed/trace.c
index 886f7ee49722..0a815b1833ec 100644
--- a/sbin/routed/trace.c
+++ b/sbin/routed/trace.c
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ __RCSID("$NetBSD$");
 #define	NRECORDS	50		/* size of circular trace buffer */
 
 int	tracelevel, new_tracelevel;
-FILE	*ftrace = stdout;		/* output trace file */
+FILE	*ftrace;			/* output trace file */
 static const char *sigtrace_pat = "%s";
 static char savetracename[MAXPATHLEN+1];
 char	inittracename[MAXPATHLEN+1];