diff --git a/xpath.c b/xpath.c
index db25e51d..c81178a4 100644
--- a/xpath.c
+++ b/xpath.c
@@ -4940,8 +4940,8 @@ xmlXPathNewContext(xmlDocPtr doc) {
     ret->nsHash = NULL;
     ret->user = NULL;
 
-    ret->contextSize = 1;
-    ret->proximityPosition = 1;
+    ret->contextSize = -1;
+    ret->proximityPosition = -1;
 
 #ifdef XP_DEFAULT_CACHE_ON
     if (xmlXPathContextSetCache(ret, 1, -1, 0) == -1) {