diff --git a/sound/pci/ali5451/ali5451.c b/sound/pci/ali5451/ali5451.c
index ccbf9e2c72d6b4e6ed2014741f7ecea518b2b53e..92eb59db106de94805eb6b0cc5ba137611f3edd1 100644
--- a/sound/pci/ali5451/ali5451.c
+++ b/sound/pci/ali5451/ali5451.c
@@ -2026,7 +2026,7 @@ static int snd_ali_create(struct snd_card *card,
 			  int pcm_streams,
 			  int spdif_support)
 {
-	struct snd_ali *codec;
+	struct snd_ali *codec = card->private_data;
 	int i, err;
 	unsigned short cmdw;