diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 4af25c24..f6b47954 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -240,6 +240,8 @@ parse_config(t_configuration_options *options)
 	options->witness_repl_nodes_sync_interval_secs = 30;
 
 	memset(options->event_notification_command, 0, sizeof(options->event_notification_command));
+	options->event_notifications.head = NULL;
+	options->event_notifications.tail = NULL;
 
 	options->tablespace_mapping.head = NULL;
 	options->tablespace_mapping.tail = NULL;
diff --git a/config.h b/config.h
index 3449ad3c..bc6b92bf 100644
--- a/config.h
+++ b/config.h
@@ -83,7 +83,11 @@ typedef struct
 	TablespaceList tablespace_mapping;
 }	t_configuration_options;
 
-#define T_CONFIGURATION_OPTIONS_INITIALIZER { "", -1, NO_UPSTREAM_NODE, "", MANUAL_FAILOVER, -1, "", "", "", "", "", "", "", -1, -1, -1, "", "", "", "", "", 0, 0, 0, 0, "", { NULL, NULL }, {NULL, NULL} }
+/*
+ * The following will initialize the structure with a minimal set of options;
+ * actual defaults are set in parse_config() before parsing the configuration file
+ */
+#define T_CONFIGURATION_OPTIONS_INITIALIZER { "", -1, NO_UPSTREAM_NODE, "", MANUAL_FAILOVER, -1, "", "", "", "", "", "", "", -1, -1, -1, "", "", "", "", "", 0, 0, 0, 0, "", { NULL, NULL }, { NULL, NULL } }
 
 typedef struct ErrorListCell
 {
diff --git a/repmgrd.c b/repmgrd.c
index 5475d6c7..47a3ca15 100644
--- a/repmgrd.c
+++ b/repmgrd.c
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@
 
 
 /* Local info */
-t_configuration_options local_options;
+t_configuration_options local_options = T_CONFIGURATION_OPTIONS_INITIALIZER;
 PGconn	   *my_local_conn = NULL;
 
 /* Master info */
-t_configuration_options master_options;
+t_configuration_options master_options = T_CONFIGURATION_OPTIONS_INITIALIZER;
 
 PGconn	   *master_conn = NULL;
 
@@ -61,8 +61,6 @@ bool		failover_done = false;
 
 char	   *pid_file = NULL;
 
-t_configuration_options config = T_CONFIGURATION_OPTIONS_INITIALIZER;
-
 static void help(void);
 static void usage(void);
 static void check_cluster_configuration(PGconn *conn);