diff --git a/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.I b/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.I
index 1e22a653e9..e1aeace6e8 100644
--- a/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.I
+++ b/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.I
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ MeshDrawer() {
   _uv = NULL;
   _color = NULL;
   _budget = 5000;
+  _vdata = NULL;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.cxx b/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.cxx
index 8aeb9d7d65..e270a43786 100644
--- a/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/grutil/meshDrawer.cxx
@@ -110,6 +110,11 @@ void MeshDrawer::begin(NodePath camera, NodePath render) {
   if (_normal != NULL) delete _normal;
   if (_uv != NULL)     delete _uv;
   if (_color != NULL)  delete _color;
+
+  if (_vdata == NULL) {
+    generator(_budget);
+  }
+
   _vertex = new GeomVertexRewriter(_vdata, "vertex");
   _uv = new GeomVertexRewriter(_vdata, "texcoord");
   _normal = new GeomVertexRewriter(_vdata, "normal");