diff --git a/gcc/cp/pph-streamer-in.c b/gcc/cp/pph-streamer-in.c
index b3c2ac9..186100f 100644
--- a/gcc/cp/pph-streamer-in.c
+++ b/gcc/cp/pph-streamer-in.c
@@ -204,7 +204,15 @@ pph_start_record (pph_stream *stream, unsigned *cache_ix)
   if (marker == PPH_RECORD_START || marker == PPH_RECORD_SHARED)
     *cache_ix = pph_in_uint (stream);
   else
-    gcc_assert (marker == PPH_RECORD_END);
+    {
+      gcc_assert (marker == PPH_RECORD_END);
+      /* Initialize CACHE_IX to an invalid index. Even though this
+	 is never used in practice, the compiler will throw an error
+	 if the optimizer inlines this function and discards the asserts
+	 in a given build as it will complain that " 'ix' may be used
+	 unititialized".  */
+      *cache_ix = -1;
+    }
 
   return marker;
 }