diff --git a/libs/canvas/item.cc b/libs/canvas/item.cc
index 29e396d0a8..07ece48863 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/item.cc
+++ b/libs/canvas/item.cc
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ Item::Item (Item* parent, Duple const& p)
 	, _position (p)
 	, _visible (true)
 	, _bounding_box_dirty (true)
+	, _layout_sensitive (false)
 	, _intrinsic_width (-1.)
 	, _intrinsic_height(-1.)
 	, _lut (0)