diff --git a/utils/managed_bytes.hh b/utils/managed_bytes.hh
index 1e2be2593d..4f936bc648 100644
--- a/utils/managed_bytes.hh
+++ b/utils/managed_bytes.hh
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ public:
     using size_type = blob_storage::size_type;
     struct initialized_later {};
 
-    managed_bytes() : managed_bytes(bytes_view()) {}
+    managed_bytes() {
+        _u.small.size = 0;
+    }
 
     managed_bytes(const blob_storage::char_type* ptr, size_type size)
         : managed_bytes(bytes_view(ptr, size)) {}