diff --git a/generic/tclOO.c b/generic/tclOO.c
index 9fc59425722..624ea8f4007 100644
--- a/generic/tclOO.c
+++ b/generic/tclOO.c
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ InitClassSystemRoots(
     fPtr->objectCls = &fakeCls;
     /* referenced in TclOOAllocClass to increment the refCount. */
     fakeCls.thisPtr = &fakeObject;
+    fakeObject.refCount = 0; /* Do not increment an uninitialized value. */
 
     fPtr->objectCls = TclOOAllocClass(interp,
 	    AllocObject(interp, "object", (Namespace *)fPtr->ooNs, NULL));