diff --git a/rocksdb-sys/api/build_version.cc b/rocksdb-sys/api/build_version.cc
index f62ef563..5a75f0a2 100644
--- a/rocksdb-sys/api/build_version.cc
+++ b/rocksdb-sys/api/build_version.cc
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 namespace ROCKSDB_NAMESPACE {
 const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string>& GetRocksBuildProperties() {
-  static std::unique_ptr<std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string>> props;
+  static std::unique_ptr<std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string>> props(new std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string>());
   return *props;
 }