diff --git a/tree/tree/src/TBranchElement.cxx b/tree/tree/src/TBranchElement.cxx
index 7b16259b109d274523f3f340c90a59992e4178ec..52e0c0a56b150718a63a4f7a4da734cf95214cac 100644
--- a/tree/tree/src/TBranchElement.cxx
+++ b/tree/tree/src/TBranchElement.cxx
@@ -2254,6 +2254,7 @@ void TBranchElement::InitializeOffsets()
          }
 
          {
+            Int_t streamerType = subBranchElement->GetType();
             if (streamerType > TStreamerInfo::kObject 
                 && aSubBranch->GetListOfBranches()->GetEntries()==0
                 && CanSelfReference(subBranchElement->GetClass()))