diff --git a/src/hotspot/share/gc/serial/defNewGeneration.cpp b/src/hotspot/share/gc/serial/defNewGeneration.cpp
index 43c8be36148..ff65a6dd450 100644
--- a/src/hotspot/share/gc/serial/defNewGeneration.cpp
+++ b/src/hotspot/share/gc/serial/defNewGeneration.cpp
@@ -226,6 +226,7 @@ DefNewGeneration::DefNewGeneration(ReservedSpace rs,
                                    size_t max_size,
                                    const char* policy)
   : Generation(rs, initial_size),
+    _promotion_failed(false),
     _preserved_marks_set(false /* in_c_heap */),
     _promo_failure_drain_in_progress(false),
     _should_allocate_from_space(false),