diff --git a/ohmpi/ohmpi.py b/ohmpi/ohmpi.py
index f962ec7d7a6e99eb375aa2d646f2f2c8c2ff919c..d282f20bc529ed7677bc3aa2212ada3c0a85e880 100644
--- a/ohmpi/ohmpi.py
+++ b/ohmpi/ohmpi.py
@@ -73,8 +73,9 @@ class OhmPi(object):
         self._hw = OhmPiHardware(**{'exec_logger': self.exec_logger, 'data_logger': self.data_logger,
                                     'soh_logger': self.soh_logger})
         self.exec_logger.info('Hardware configured...')
-        
+
         # default acquisition settings
+        self.settings = {}
         self.update_settings('settings/default.json')
 
         # read in acquisition settings