diff --git a/ui/segmented-bar/segmented-bar-common.ts b/ui/segmented-bar/segmented-bar-common.ts
index 5ac8b9e64..cd4785042 100644
--- a/ui/segmented-bar/segmented-bar-common.ts
+++ b/ui/segmented-bar/segmented-bar-common.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export module knownCollections {
 }
 
 export class SegmentedBarItem extends bindable.Bindable implements definition.SegmentedBarItem {
-    private _title: string;
+    private _title: string = "";
     public _parent: SegmentedBar;
 
     get title(): string {
diff --git a/ui/tab-view/tab-view-common.ts b/ui/tab-view/tab-view-common.ts
index 4b51cc1c0..20b5a2128 100644
--- a/ui/tab-view/tab-view-common.ts
+++ b/ui/tab-view/tab-view-common.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import bindable = require("ui/core/bindable");
 export var traceCategory = "TabView";
 
 export class TabViewItem extends bindable.Bindable implements definition.TabViewItem {
-    private _title: string;
+    private _title: string = "";
     private _view: view.View;
     private _iconSource: string;