diff --git a/util/RTCContext.cpp b/util/RTCContext.cpp
index 6b071a6..8005dd1 100644
--- a/util/RTCContext.cpp
+++ b/util/RTCContext.cpp
@@ -712,7 +712,7 @@ np::ndarray RTCContext::getNumpydata() {
     std::cout << "step4" << std::endl;
 
     PyGILState_STATE gstate = PyGILState_Ensure();
-    np::ndarray result;
+    np::ndarray result = np::empty(bp::make_tuple(length), np::dtype::get_builtin<int16_t>());
     try {
         if (!data_ptr || length == 0) {
             result = np::zeros(bp::make_tuple(0), np::dtype::get_builtin<int16_t>());