diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index 08360e167..315be8b69 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -910,9 +910,10 @@ bool AppInitParameterInteraction()
 
         if (find(categories.begin(), categories.end(), std::string("0")) == categories.end()) {
             for (const auto& cat : categories) {
-                uint32_t flag;
+                uint32_t flag = 0;
                 if (!GetLogCategory(&flag, &cat)) {
                     InitWarning(strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debug", cat));
+                    continue;
                 }
                 logCategories |= flag;
             }
@@ -923,9 +924,10 @@ bool AppInitParameterInteraction()
     if (mapMultiArgs.count("-debugexclude") > 0) {
         const std::vector<std::string>& excludedCategories = mapMultiArgs.at("-debugexclude");
         for (const auto& cat : excludedCategories) {
-            uint32_t flag;
+            uint32_t flag = 0;
             if (!GetLogCategory(&flag, &cat)) {
                 InitWarning(strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debugexclude", cat));
+                continue;
             }
             logCategories &= ~flag;
         }