diff --git a/src/common/remoteio.c b/src/common/remoteio.c
--- a/src/common/remoteio.c
+++ b/src/common/remoteio.c
@@ -648,6 +648,7 @@ int _remoteio_sock_read(struct remoteio 
 {
   ssize_t readrtn;
 
+  *bytesread = 0;
   readrtn = read(rem->sock, buf, len);
   /*
     The following is valid for blocking sockets:
@@ -661,7 +662,6 @@ int _remoteio_sock_read(struct remoteio 
 	Some of these are not error conditions:
        */
       perror("read");
-      *bytesread = 0;
 
       if(errno != EINTR)
 	{