diff --git a/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/ggi/ggiPolyPatch.C b/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/ggi/ggiPolyPatch.C
index 94dac2e9c..9aef0022d 100644
--- a/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/ggi/ggiPolyPatch.C
+++ b/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/ggi/ggiPolyPatch.C
@@ -238,8 +238,8 @@ Foam::ggiPolyPatch::ggiPolyPatch
 )
 :
     coupledPolyPatch(name, size, start, index, bm),
-    shadowName_(word::null),
-    zoneName_(word::null),
+    shadowName_("_initialize_me_"),
+    zoneName_("_initialize_me_"),
     bridgeOverlap_(false),
     shadowIndex_(-1),
     zoneIndex_(-1),
diff --git a/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/mixingPlane/mixingPlanePolyPatch.C b/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/mixingPlane/mixingPlanePolyPatch.C
index 8fb879a7f..056e032b0 100644
--- a/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/mixingPlane/mixingPlanePolyPatch.C
+++ b/src/OpenFOAM/meshes/polyMesh/polyPatches/constraint/mixingPlane/mixingPlanePolyPatch.C
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ Foam::mixingPlanePolyPatch::mixingPlanePolyPatch
 )
 :
     coupledPolyPatch(name, size, start, index, bm),
-    shadowName_(fileName::null),
+    shadowName_("_initialize_me_"),
     csPtr_
     (
         new coordinateSystem