diff --git a/src/sign-verify/clu_sign.c b/src/sign-verify/clu_sign.c
index cfebc878..16c2eb88 100644
--- a/src/sign-verify/clu_sign.c
+++ b/src/sign-verify/clu_sign.c
@@ -880,8 +880,7 @@ int wolfCLU_sign_data_xmss(byte* data, char* out, int fSz, char* privKey)
     XmssKey key[1];
 #endif
 
-    /* init the XMSS key */
-    XMEMSET(key, 0, sizeof(XmssKey));
+    /* init the XMSS key (wc_XmssKey_Init zeroizes the struct internally) */
     ret = wc_XmssKey_Init(key, HEAP_HINT, 0);
     if (ret != 0) {
         wolfCLU_LogError("Failed to initialize XMSS Key."
@@ -1060,8 +1059,7 @@ int wolfCLU_sign_data_xmssmt(byte* data, char* out, int fSz, char* privKey)
     XmssKey key[1];
 #endif
 
-    /* init the xmss key */
-    XMEMSET(key, 0, sizeof(XmssKey));
+    /* init the xmss key (wc_XmssKey_Init zeroizes the struct internally) */
     ret = wc_XmssKey_Init(key, HEAP_HINT, 0);
     if (ret != 0) {
         wolfCLU_LogError("Failed to initialize XMSS Key.\nRET: %d", ret);