diff --git a/mRemoteV1/Config/Serializers/XmlConnectionsDeserializer.cs b/mRemoteV1/Config/Serializers/XmlConnectionsDeserializer.cs
index 9ba825bb5..7f2100708 100644
--- a/mRemoteV1/Config/Serializers/XmlConnectionsDeserializer.cs
+++ b/mRemoteV1/Config/Serializers/XmlConnectionsDeserializer.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ namespace mRemoteNG.Config.Serializers
         //TODO find way to inject data source info
         private string ConnectionFileName = "";
         private const double MaxSupportedConfVersion = 2.6;
-        private RootNodeInfo _rootNodeInfo;
+        private RootNodeInfo _rootNodeInfo = new RootNodeInfo(RootNodeType.Connection);
 
         public Func<SecureString> AuthenticationRequestor { get; set; }