diff --git a/src/nvim/eval.c b/src/nvim/eval.c
index b6e292219f..cc9dfcf27b 100644
--- a/src/nvim/eval.c
+++ b/src/nvim/eval.c
@@ -16764,6 +16764,7 @@ static void f_spellbadword(typval_T *argvars, typval_T *rettv, FunPtr fptr)
         }
         str += len;
         capcol -= len;
+        len = 0;
       }
     }
   }