diff --git a/Eigen/src/Householder/Householder.h b/Eigen/src/Householder/Householder.h
index 8a274d240..ea39e4c30 100644
--- a/Eigen/src/Householder/Householder.h
+++ b/Eigen/src/Householder/Householder.h
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ void MatrixBase<Derived>::makeHouseholder(
   EIGEN_STATIC_ASSERT_VECTOR_ONLY(EssentialPart)
   VectorBlock<Derived, EssentialPart::SizeAtCompileTime> tail(derived(), 1, size()-1);
   
-  RealScalar tailSqNorm;
+  RealScalar tailSqNorm = size()==1 ? 0 : tail.squaredNorm();
   Scalar c0 = coeff(0);
   
-  if( (size()==1 || (tailSqNorm=tail.squaredNorm()) == RealScalar(0)) && ei_imag(c0)==RealScalar(0))
+  if( tailSqNorm == RealScalar(0) && ei_imag(c0)==RealScalar(0))
   {
     *tau = 0;
     *beta = ei_real(c0);