diff --git a/ompi/attribute/attribute.c b/ompi/attribute/attribute.c
index cc8b68ed7d..cdf4d0f3a6 100644
--- a/ompi/attribute/attribute.c
+++ b/ompi/attribute/attribute.c
@@ -479,6 +479,8 @@ int ompi_attr_init(void)
         }
     }
 
+    OBJ_CONSTRUCT(&alock, opal_mutex_t);
+
     if (OMPI_SUCCESS != (ret = opal_hash_table_init(keyval_hash,
                                                     ATTR_TABLE_SIZE))) {
 	return ret;