diff --git a/src/irda.c b/src/irda.c
index fba618c..b9ee35e 100644
--- a/src/irda.c
+++ b/src/irda.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ const char* irda_errmsg (void)
 int irda_init (void)
 {
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	WSADATA wsaData = {0};
+	WSADATA wsaData;
 	WORD wVersionRequested = MAKEWORD (2, 2);
 	if (WSAStartup (wVersionRequested, &wsaData) != 0) {
 		TRACE ("WSAStartup");
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ irda_socket_connect_name (irda *device, unsigned int address, const char *name)
 		return -1;
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	SOCKADDR_IRDA peer = {0};
+	SOCKADDR_IRDA peer;
 	peer.irdaAddressFamily = AF_IRDA;
 	peer.irdaDeviceID[0] = (address >> 24) & 0xFF;
 	peer.irdaDeviceID[1] = (address >> 16) & 0xFF;
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ irda_socket_connect_name (irda *device, unsigned int address, const char *name)
 	else
 		memset (peer.irdaServiceName, 0x00, 25);
 #else
-	struct sockaddr_irda peer = {0};
+	struct sockaddr_irda peer;
 	peer.sir_family = AF_IRDA;
 	peer.sir_addr = address;
 	if (name)
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ irda_socket_connect_lsap (irda *device, unsigned int address, unsigned int lsap)
 		return -1;
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
-	SOCKADDR_IRDA peer = {0};
+	SOCKADDR_IRDA peer;
 	peer.irdaAddressFamily = AF_IRDA;
 	peer.irdaDeviceID[0] = (address >> 24) & 0xFF;
 	peer.irdaDeviceID[1] = (address >> 16) & 0xFF;
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ irda_socket_connect_lsap (irda *device, unsigned int address, unsigned int lsap)
 	peer.irdaDeviceID[3] = (address      ) & 0xFF;
 	snprintf (peer.irdaServiceName, 25, "LSAP-SEL%u", lsap);
 #else
-	struct sockaddr_irda peer = {0};
+	struct sockaddr_irda peer;
 	peer.sir_family = AF_IRDA;
 	peer.sir_addr = address;
 	peer.sir_lsap_sel = lsap;
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ irda_socket_read (irda* device, void* data, unsigned int size)
 	if (device == NULL)
 		return -1; // EINVAL (Invalid argument)
 
-	struct timeval tv = {0};
+	struct timeval tv;
 	if (device->timeout >= 0) {
 		tv.tv_sec  = (device->timeout / 1000);
 		tv.tv_usec = (device->timeout % 1000) * 1000;
diff --git a/src/serial_posix.c b/src/serial_posix.c
index 31ee758..8a9fef1 100644
--- a/src/serial_posix.c
+++ b/src/serial_posix.c
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ serial_configure (serial *device, int baudrate, int databits, int parity, int st
 		return -1; // EINVAL (Invalid argument)
 
 	// Retrieve the current settings.
-	struct termios tty = {0};
+	struct termios tty;
 	if (tcgetattr (device->fd, &tty) != 0) {
 		TRACE ("tcgetattr");
 		return -1;
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ serial_configure (serial *device, int baudrate, int databits, int parity, int st
 	// it may be necessary to follow this call with a further call to
 	// tcgetattr() to check that all changes have been performed successfully.
 
-	struct termios active = {0};
+	struct termios active;
 	if (tcgetattr (device->fd, &active) != 0) {
 		TRACE ("tcgetattr");
 		return -1;
@@ -365,14 +365,14 @@ serial_poll_internal (int fd, int queue, long timeout, const struct timeval *tim
 	// Calculate the initial timeout, and obtain
 	// a timestamp for updating the timeout.
 
-	struct timeval tvt = {0}, tve = {0};
+	struct timeval tvt, tve;
 	if (timeout > 0) {
 		// Calculate the initial timeout.
 		tvt.tv_sec  = (timeout / 1000);
 		tvt.tv_usec = (timeout % 1000) * 1000;
 		// Calculate the timestamp.
 		if (timestamp == NULL) {
-			struct timeval now = {0};
+			struct timeval now;
 			if (gettimeofday (&now, NULL) != 0) {
 				TRACE ("gettimeofday");
 				return -1;
@@ -381,6 +381,8 @@ serial_poll_internal (int fd, int queue, long timeout, const struct timeval *tim
 		} else {
 			timeradd (timestamp, &tvt, &tve);
 		}
+	} else if (timeout == 0) {
+		timerclear (&tvt);
 	}
 
 	// Wait until the file descriptor is ready for reading/writing, or 
@@ -410,7 +412,7 @@ serial_poll_internal (int fd, int queue, long timeout, const struct timeval *tim
 		// Calculate the remaining timeout.
 
 		if (timeout > 0) {
-			struct timeval now = {0};
+			struct timeval now;
 			if (gettimeofday (&now, NULL) != 0) {
 				TRACE ("gettimeofday");
 				return -1;
@@ -436,7 +438,7 @@ serial_read (serial* device, void* data, unsigned int size)
 
 	long timeout = device->timeout;
 
-	struct timeval timestamp = {0};
+	struct timeval timestamp;
 	if (timeout > 0) {
 		if (gettimeofday (&timestamp, NULL) != 0) {
 			TRACE ("gettimeofday");
@@ -462,7 +464,7 @@ serial_read (serial* device, void* data, unsigned int size)
 		}
 
 		// Wait until the file descriptor is ready for reading, or the timeout expires.
-		int rc = serial_poll_internal (device->fd, SERIAL_QUEUE_INPUT, timeout, &timestamp);
+		int rc = serial_poll_internal (device->fd, SERIAL_QUEUE_INPUT, timeout, timeout > 0 ? &timestamp : NULL);
 		if (rc < 0) {
 			return -1; // Error during select/poll call.
 		} else if (rc == 0)
@@ -470,7 +472,7 @@ serial_read (serial* device, void* data, unsigned int size)
 
 		// Calculate the remaining timeout.
 		if (timeout > 0) {
-			struct timeval now = {0}, delta = {0};
+			struct timeval now, delta;
 			if (gettimeofday (&now, NULL) != 0) {
 				TRACE ("gettimeofday");
 				return -1;
@@ -671,7 +673,7 @@ serial_get_transmitted (serial *device)
 int
 serial_sleep (unsigned long timeout)
 {
-	struct timespec ts = {0};   
+	struct timespec ts;
 	ts.tv_sec  = (timeout / 1000);
 	ts.tv_nsec = (timeout % 1000) * 1000000;
 
@@ -689,7 +691,7 @@ serial_sleep (unsigned long timeout)
 int
 serial_timer (void)
 {
-	struct timeval tv = {0};
+	struct timeval tv;
 	if (gettimeofday (&tv, NULL) != 0) {
 		TRACE ("gettimeofday");
 		return 0;
diff --git a/src/serial_win32.c b/src/serial_win32.c
index fcf6d6b..6945870 100644
--- a/src/serial_win32.c
+++ b/src/serial_win32.c
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ serial_configure (serial *device, int baudrate, int databits, int parity, int st
 		return -1; // ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER (The parameter is incorrect)
 
 	// Retrieve the current settings.
-	DCB dcb = {0};
+	DCB dcb;
 	if (!GetCommState (device->hFile, &dcb)) {
 		TRACE ("GetCommState");
 		return -1;
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ serial_set_timeout (serial* device, long timeout)
 		return -1; // ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER (The parameter is incorrect)
 
 	// Retrieve the current timeouts.
-	COMMTIMEOUTS timeouts = {0};
+	COMMTIMEOUTS timeouts;
 	if (!GetCommTimeouts (device->hFile, &timeouts)) {
 		TRACE ("GetCommTimeouts");
 		return -1;
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ serial_get_received (serial* device)
 	if (device == NULL)
 		return -1; // ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER (The parameter is incorrect)
 
-	COMSTAT stats = {0};
+	COMSTAT stats;
 
 	if (!ClearCommError (device->hFile, NULL, &stats)) {
 		TRACE ("ClearCommError");
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ serial_get_transmitted (serial* device)
 	if (device == NULL)
 		return -1; // ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER (The parameter is incorrect)
 
-	COMSTAT stats = {0};
+	COMSTAT stats;
 
 	if (!ClearCommError (device->hFile, NULL, &stats)) {
 		TRACE ("ClearCommError");
diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index db11535..952bd8a 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ int message (const char* fmt, ...)
 			unsigned long sec = timestamp / 1000L, msec = timestamp % 1000L;
 			fprintf (g_logfile, "[%li.%03li] ", sec, msec);
 #else
-			struct timeval now = {0}, timestamp = {0};
+			struct timeval now, timestamp;
 			gettimeofday (&now, NULL);
 			timersub (&now, &g_timestamp, &timestamp);
 			fprintf (g_logfile, "[%lli.%06lli] ", (long long)timestamp.tv_sec, (long long)timestamp.tv_usec);