diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 817da0ad1..aa1555297 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 2007-08-01  Peter Stephenson  <p.w.stephenson@ntlworld.com>
 
+	* 23736: Src/hist.c: status for file save wasnʼt
+	initialised.
+
 	* unposted: **/.distfiles: update files for distribution.
 
 2007-07-31  Peter Stephenson  <pws@csr.com>
diff --git a/Src/hist.c b/Src/hist.c
index 6ddfaf506..d4f3fc454 100644
--- a/Src/hist.c
+++ b/Src/hist.c
@@ -2225,6 +2225,7 @@ savehistfile(char *fn, int err, int writeflags)
 	}
     }
     if (out) {
+	ret = 0;
 	for (; he && he->histnum <= xcurhist; he = down_histent(he)) {
 	    if ((writeflags & HFILE_SKIPDUPS && he->node.flags & HIST_DUP)
 	     || (writeflags & HFILE_SKIPFOREIGN && he->node.flags & HIST_FOREIGN)