diff --git a/modules/stochastic_tools/src/utils/GaussianProcessHandler.C b/modules/stochastic_tools/src/utils/GaussianProcessHandler.C
index 47351f007449..1c9f34e0ba2e 100644
--- a/modules/stochastic_tools/src/utils/GaussianProcessHandler.C
+++ b/modules/stochastic_tools/src/utils/GaussianProcessHandler.C
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ GaussianProcessHandler::tuneHyperParamsAdam(const RealEigenMatrix & training_par
   Real new_val;
   Real m_hat;
   Real v_hat;
-  Real store_loss;
+  Real store_loss = 0.0;
   std::vector<Real> grad1;
 
   // Initialize randomizer