diff --git a/src/cc65/codeopt.c b/src/cc65/codeopt.c
index 730c8db41..6650dd483 100644
--- a/src/cc65/codeopt.c
+++ b/src/cc65/codeopt.c
@@ -1416,12 +1416,13 @@ static unsigned OptPtrLoad8 (CodeSeg* S)
  */
 {
     unsigned Changes = 0;
+    unsigned I;
 
     /* Generate register info */
     CS_GenRegInfo (S);
 
     /* Walk over the entries */
-    unsigned I = 0;
+    I = 0;
     while (I < CS_GetEntryCount (S)) {
 
 	CodeEntry* L[5];