diff --git a/tests/run/lvalue_refs.pyx b/tests/run/lvalue_refs.pyx
index 7e3b4df283ef67ce7a7ebda8003befba0cc24f26..d42f2407efa3c88275dcb32f90b50ba07ad2ddd8 100644
--- a/tests/run/lvalue_refs.pyx
+++ b/tests/run/lvalue_refs.pyx
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ cdef void foo(vector[dpp] &bar, vector[vector[dp]] &baz) nogil:
 def test_lvalue_ref_assignment():
     cdef vector[dpp]        bar
     cdef vector[vector[dp]] baz
-    cdef vector[double]     data
+    cdef vector[double]     data = [0.0]
     cdef dp                 bongle = &data[0]
 
     bar.resize(1)