2 files changed, 2 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/src/nvim/api/private/defs.h b/src/nvim/api/private/defs.h
index a91907f4f8..4d9f5fb708 100644
--- a/src/nvim/api/private/defs.h
+++ b/src/nvim/api/private/defs.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 #define ARRAY_DICT_INIT {.size = 0, .items = NULL}
+#define STRING_INIT {.data = NULL, .size = 0}
 #define REMOTE_TYPE(type) typedef uint64_t type
 
 #define TYPED_ARRAY_OF(type)                                                  \
diff --git a/src/nvim/api/private/helpers.c b/src/nvim/api/private/helpers.c
index a43e7a8d2a..206129dd78 100644
--- a/src/nvim/api/private/helpers.c
+++ b/src/nvim/api/private/helpers.c
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ tabpage_T * find_tab(Tabpage tabpage, Error *err)
 
 String cstr_to_string(const char *str) {
     if (str == NULL) {
-        return (String) { .data = NULL, .size = 0 };
+        return (String) STRING_INIT;
     }
 
     size_t len = strlen(str);