diff --git a/src/DataHandler/ViewerDataHandler.cpp b/src/DataHandler/ViewerDataHandler.cpp
index 8ee5965d..f762bf42 100644
--- a/src/DataHandler/ViewerDataHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/DataHandler/ViewerDataHandler.cpp
@@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ void ViewerDataHandler::createSampleList()
 			if (!checkIfElementExists(newElement))
 				sampleList.push_back(newElement);
 		}
+
+		variable->setValue(0.0);
 	}
 
 	/* mark actively sampled variables */
diff --git a/src/Gui/GuiVariablesEdit.hpp b/src/Gui/GuiVariablesEdit.hpp
index ef485156..62adca15 100644
--- a/src/Gui/GuiVariablesEdit.hpp
+++ b/src/Gui/GuiVariablesEdit.hpp
@@ -234,7 +234,10 @@ class VariableEditWindow
 			std::string base = "";
 
 			if (!selectionBase.empty())
+			{
 				base = *selectionBase.begin();
+				shouldUpdate = true;
+			}
 			else if (fractional.baseVariable != nullptr)
 				base = fractional.baseVariable->getName();
 			else