diff --git a/wp-includes/category-template.php b/wp-includes/category-template.php
index c6d1e4522..e2a8c6959 100644
--- a/wp-includes/category-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/category-template.php
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ function get_category_children($id, $before = '/', $after = '') {
 	if ( 0 == $id )
 		return '';
 
+	$chain = '';
+
 	$cat_ids = get_all_category_ids();
 	foreach ( $cat_ids as $cat_id ) {
 		if ( $cat_id == $id)
diff --git a/wp-includes/general-template.php b/wp-includes/general-template.php
index 3860e0887..17f211424 100644
--- a/wp-includes/general-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/general-template.php
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ function wp_title($sep = '»', $display = true) {
 	$category_name = get_query_var('category_name');
 	$author = get_query_var('author');
 	$author_name = get_query_var('author_name');
+	$title = '';
 
 	// If there's a category
 	if ( !empty($cat) ) {