diff --git a/includes/functions.php b/includes/functions.php
index 282d1e34f..22b6dc91d 100644
--- a/includes/functions.php
+++ b/includes/functions.php
@@ -1204,6 +1204,7 @@ function first_oid_match($device, $list) {
 
 function ip_to_hex($ip) {
 
+    $return = '';
     if (strstr($ip, ":")) {
         $ipv6 = explode(':', $ip);
         foreach ($ipv6 as $item) {