diff --git a/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c b/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
index 92d7797223be..6d8757008318 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/libata-eh.c
@@ -2402,7 +2402,7 @@ static void ata_eh_link_report(struct ata_link *link)
 	struct ata_port *ap = link->ap;
 	struct ata_eh_context *ehc = &link->eh_context;
 	const char *frozen, *desc;
-	char tries_buf[6];
+	char tries_buf[6] = "";
 	int tag, nr_failed = 0;
 
 	if (ehc->i.flags & ATA_EHI_QUIET)
@@ -2433,9 +2433,8 @@ static void ata_eh_link_report(struct ata_link *link)
 	if (ap->pflags & ATA_PFLAG_FROZEN)
 		frozen = " frozen";
 
-	memset(tries_buf, 0, sizeof(tries_buf));
 	if (ap->eh_tries < ATA_EH_MAX_TRIES)
-		snprintf(tries_buf, sizeof(tries_buf) - 1, " t%d",
+		snprintf(tries_buf, sizeof(tries_buf), " t%d",
 			 ap->eh_tries);
 
 	if (ehc->i.dev) {