diff --git a/src/compute_orientorder_atom.cpp b/src/compute_orientorder_atom.cpp
index 34d11f9ac1..c278ccc520 100644
--- a/src/compute_orientorder_atom.cpp
+++ b/src/compute_orientorder_atom.cpp
@@ -256,6 +256,7 @@ void ComputeOrientOrderAtom::compute_peratom()
 
   double **x = atom->x;
   int *mask = atom->mask;
+  memset(&qnarray[0][0],0,nmax*ncol*sizeof(double));
 
   for (ii = 0; ii < inum; ii++) {
     i = ilist[ii];
@@ -318,7 +319,6 @@ void ComputeOrientOrderAtom::compute_peratom()
       }
 
       calc_boop(rlist, ncount, qn, qlist, nqlist);
-
     }
   }
 }