diff --git a/src/scaleitem.cpp b/src/scaleitem.cpp
index 5b172377..714f8cae 100644
--- a/src/scaleitem.cpp
+++ b/src/scaleitem.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
 ScaleItem::ScaleItem(QGraphicsItem *parent) : QGraphicsItem(parent)
 {
 	_units = Metric;
+	_zoom = ZOOM_MIN;
+	_lat = 0;
+
+	computeScale();
 }
 
 QRectF ScaleItem::boundingRect() const