diff --git a/Lib/_markupbase.py b/Lib/_markupbase.py
index 2af5f1c23b6066..f74b6e59f2fe31 100644
--- a/Lib/_markupbase.py
+++ b/Lib/_markupbase.py
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ def parse_marked_section(self, i, report=1):
             # look for MS Office ]> ending
             match= _msmarkedsectionclose.search(rawdata, i+3)
         else:
+            match = None
             self.error('unknown status keyword %r in marked section' % rawdata[i+3:j])
         if not match:
             return -1