diff --git a/orte/mca/oob/tcp/oob_tcp.c b/orte/mca/oob/tcp/oob_tcp.c
index e8cf9ab153..1a44a26ba2 100644
--- a/orte/mca/oob/tcp/oob_tcp.c
+++ b/orte/mca/oob/tcp/oob_tcp.c
@@ -463,7 +463,12 @@ static void mca_oob_tcp_recv_handler(int sd, short flags, void* user)
     }
     OBJ_RELEASE(event);
 
+    /* Some mem checkers don't realize that hdr will guarantee to be
+       fully filled in during the read(), below :-( */
+    OMPI_DEBUG_ZERO(hdr);
+
     /* recv the process identifier */
+    hdr.msg_src.cellid = 78;
     while((rc = recv(sd, (char *)&hdr, sizeof(hdr), 0)) != sizeof(hdr)) {
         if(rc >= 0) {
             if(mca_oob_tcp_component.tcp_debug > 1) {
@@ -480,6 +485,10 @@ static void mca_oob_tcp_recv_handler(int sd, short flags, void* user)
             return;
         }
     }
+    assert(rc == sizeof(hdr));
+    if (rc != sizeof(hdr)) {
+        abort();
+    }
     MCA_OOB_TCP_HDR_NTOH(&hdr);
 
     /* dispatch based on message type */