diff --git a/src/runtime2/component/consensus.rs b/src/runtime2/component/consensus.rs
index 764963a2e79f5b41c55d91bbf8ffe7123ad18ae4..6fce74730a9d6cd923207f7239b804b1580cc005 100644
--- a/src/runtime2/component/consensus.rs
+++ b/src/runtime2/component/consensus.rs
@@ -366,7 +366,10 @@ impl Consensus {
         let data_header = self.create_data_header_and_update_mapping(port_info);
         let sync_header = self.create_sync_header(comp_ctx);
 
-        return DataMessage{ data_header, sync_header, content };
+        return DataMessage{
+            data_header, sync_header, content,
+            ports: Vec::new()
+        };
     }
 
     /// Handles the arrival of a new data message (needs to be called for every