diff --git a/src/bin/pegleg/pegleg/engine/lint.py b/src/bin/pegleg/pegleg/engine/lint.py
index d5a4f84e..10e0ffdf 100644
--- a/src/bin/pegleg/pegleg/engine/lint.py
+++ b/src/bin/pegleg/pegleg/engine/lint.py
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ def _verify_single_file(filename, schemas):
                            '%s does not begin with YAML beginning of document '
                            'marker "---".' % filename))
         f.seek(0)
+        documents = []
         try:
             documents = list(yaml.safe_load_all(f))
         except Exception as e: