diff --git a/src/tools/qstring.cpp b/src/tools/qstring.cpp
index 25ec4204..1147fd82 100644
--- a/src/tools/qstring.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/qstring.cpp
@@ -5992,7 +5992,7 @@ void TQString::setSecurityUnPaged(bool lock) {
 TQCString TQString::utf8() const
 {
     if (!d->cString) {
-        d->cString = new TQCString;
+        d->cString = new TQCString("");
     }
     if(d == shared_null)
     {
@@ -6246,7 +6246,7 @@ TQString TQString::fromLatin1( const char* chars, int len )
 TQCString TQString::local8Bit() const
 {
     if (!d->cString) {
-        d->cString = new TQCString;
+        d->cString = new TQCString("");
     }
     if(d == shared_null)
     {