diff --git a/net/rds/connection.c b/net/rds/connection.c
index 273f064..d14445c 100644
--- a/net/rds/connection.c
+++ b/net/rds/connection.c
@@ -148,14 +148,12 @@
 	if (conn)
 		goto out;
 
-	conn = kmem_cache_alloc(rds_conn_slab, gfp);
+	conn = kmem_cache_zalloc(rds_conn_slab, gfp);
 	if (conn == NULL) {
 		conn = ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM);
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	memset(conn, 0, sizeof(*conn));
-
 	INIT_HLIST_NODE(&conn->c_hash_node);
 	conn->c_version = RDS_PROTOCOL_3_0;
 	conn->c_laddr = laddr;