diff --git a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
index f32a04c4c5bc..f5b1f3aa5bd2 100755
--- a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
+++ b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ sub get_maintainer_role {
     my $start = find_starting_index($index);
     my $end = find_ending_index($index);
 
-    my $role;
+    my $role = "unknown";
     my $subsystem = $typevalue[$start];
     if (length($subsystem) > 20) {
 	$subsystem = substr($subsystem, 0, 17);