diff --git a/utf8.c b/utf8.c
index c06c546ae7e0..f1abd238cae3 100644
--- a/utf8.c
+++ b/utf8.c
@@ -1590,13 +1590,6 @@ Perl_utf8_to_uv_msgs_helper_(const U8 * const s0,
 {
     PERL_ARGS_ASSERT_UTF8_TO_UV_MSGS_HELPER_;
 
-    const U8 * s = s0;
-
-    U32 possible_problems;  /* A bit is set here for each potential problem
-                               found as we go along */
-    UV uv;
-    SSize_t expectlen;    /* How long should this sequence be? */
-
     /* Here, is one of:
      *  a)  malformed;
      *  b)  a problematic code point (surrogate, non-unicode, or nonchar); or
@@ -1635,9 +1628,6 @@ Perl_utf8_to_uv_msgs_helper_(const U8 * const s0,
           || UTF8_IS_NONCHAR(s0, e));
     */
 
-    s = s0;
-    possible_problems = 0;
-    expectlen = 0;
     if (errors) {
         *errors = 0;
     }
@@ -1672,7 +1662,10 @@ Perl_utf8_to_uv_msgs_helper_(const U8 * const s0,
      * allowed one, we could allow in something that shouldn't have been.
      */
 
+    SSize_t expectlen = 0;  /* How long should this sequence be? */
     SSize_t curlen = 0;     /* How many bytes have we processed so far */
+    UV uv = 0;              /* The accumulated code point, so far */
+    const U8 * s = s0;      /* Our current position examining the sequence */
 
     /* Gives how many bytes are available, which may turn out to be less than
      * the expected length */
@@ -1683,15 +1676,18 @@ Perl_utf8_to_uv_msgs_helper_(const U8 * const s0,
      * than a single character */
     const U8 * send = e;
 
+    /* A bit is set here for each potential problem found as we go along */
+    U32 possible_problems = 0;
+
+    /* The above variables have to be initialized before the 'goto' */
+
     if (UNLIKELY(avail_len <= 0)) {
         possible_problems |= UTF8_GOT_EMPTY;
         goto ready_to_handle_errors;
     }
 
-    /* We now know we can examine the first byte of the input */
-    expectlen = UTF8SKIP(s0);
-
-    /* A continuation character can't start a valid sequence */
+    /* We now know we can examine the first byte of the input.  A continuation
+     * character can't start a valid sequence */
     if (UNLIKELY(UTF8_IS_CONTINUATION(*s0))) {
         possible_problems |= UTF8_GOT_CONTINUATION;
         curlen = 1;
@@ -1707,6 +1703,8 @@ Perl_utf8_to_uv_msgs_helper_(const U8 * const s0,
      * to check for sure because it excludes start bytes like \xC0 that always
      * lead to overlongs.) */
 
+    expectlen = UTF8SKIP(s0); /* How long should this sequence be? */
+
     /* Convert to I8 on EBCDIC (no-op on ASCII), then remove the leading bits
      * that indicate the number of bytes in the character's whole UTF-8
      * sequence, leaving just the bits that are part of the value.  */