diff --git a/src/nvim/cmdexpand.c b/src/nvim/cmdexpand.c
index 28cc70ff5a..5c3b17b903 100644
--- a/src/nvim/cmdexpand.c
+++ b/src/nvim/cmdexpand.c
@@ -3242,7 +3242,7 @@ static int ExpandUserList(expand_T *xp, char ***matches, int *numMatches)
 
 static int ExpandUserLua(expand_T *xp, int *num_file, char ***file)
 {
-  typval_T rettv;
+  typval_T rettv = TV_INITIAL_VALUE;
   nlua_call_user_expand_func(xp, &rettv);
   if (rettv.v_type != VAR_LIST) {
     tv_clear(&rettv);
diff --git a/test/functional/api/command_spec.lua b/test/functional/api/command_spec.lua
index fabd9be6d6..d332576fb4 100644
--- a/test/functional/api/command_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/api/command_spec.lua
@@ -681,6 +681,19 @@ describe('nvim_create_user_command', function()
     eq('Test bbb', fn.getcmdline())
   end)
 
+  it('no crash when Lua complete function errors #33447', function()
+    exec_lua([[
+      vim.api.nvim_create_user_command('Test','', {
+          nargs = 1,
+          complete = function() error() end
+      })
+    ]])
+    feed(':Test <Tab>')
+    eq('E5108: Error executing Lua function: [NULL]', api.nvim_get_vvar('errmsg'))
+    eq('Test ', fn.getcmdline())
+    assert_alive()
+  end)
+
   it('does not allow invalid command names', function()
     eq(
       "Invalid command name (must start with uppercase): 'test'",