diff --git a/libdm/ioctl/libdm-iface.c b/libdm/ioctl/libdm-iface.c
index aab6305c3..fb2fdd117 100644
--- a/libdm/ioctl/libdm-iface.c
+++ b/libdm/ioctl/libdm-iface.c
@@ -852,7 +852,7 @@ int dm_task_set_event_nr(struct dm_task *dmt, uint32_t event_nr)
 struct target *create_target(uint64_t start, uint64_t len, const char *type,
 			     const char *params)
 {
-	struct target *t = dm_malloc(sizeof(*t));
+	struct target *t = dm_zalloc(sizeof(*t));
 
 	if (!t) {
 		log_error("create_target: malloc(%" PRIsize_t ") failed",
@@ -860,8 +860,6 @@ struct target *create_target(uint64_t start, uint64_t len, const char *type,
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
-	memset(t, 0, sizeof(*t));
-
 	if (!(t->params = dm_strdup(params))) {
 		log_error("create_target: strdup(params) failed");
 		goto bad;