diff --git a/src/stralloc.c b/src/stralloc.c
index 02188a3ef05610832ecc35c94bb40cae7c10850c..69c20f07558f1dd196dd2f6ad54eb6d6ea32c5b0 100644
--- a/src/stralloc.c
+++ b/src/stralloc.c
@@ -2139,8 +2139,6 @@ void init_shared_string_table(void)
   base_table=xcalloc(sizeof(struct pike_string *), htable_size);
 
   empty_pike_string = make_shared_string("");
-  empty_pike_string->flags |= STRING_CONTENT_CHECKED | STRING_IS_LOWERCASE | STRING_IS_UPPERCASE;
-  empty_pike_string->min = empty_pike_string->max = 0;
 }
 
 #ifdef DO_PIKE_CLEANUP