diff --git a/libraries/entities/src/EntityItemProperties.h b/libraries/entities/src/EntityItemProperties.h
index 900f5b65ac..6553f231d0 100644
--- a/libraries/entities/src/EntityItemProperties.h
+++ b/libraries/entities/src/EntityItemProperties.h
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ public:
     DEFINE_PROPERTY_REF(PROP_Y_P_NEIGHBOR_ID, YPNeighborID, yPNeighborID, EntityItemID, UNKNOWN_ENTITY_ID);
     DEFINE_PROPERTY_REF(PROP_Z_P_NEIGHBOR_ID, ZPNeighborID, zPNeighborID, EntityItemID, UNKNOWN_ENTITY_ID);
     DEFINE_PROPERTY_REF(PROP_PARENT_ID, ParentID, parentID, QUuid, UNKNOWN_ENTITY_ID);
-    DEFINE_PROPERTY_REF(PROP_PARENT_JOINT_INDEX, ParentJointIndex, parentJointIndex, quint16, 0);
+    DEFINE_PROPERTY_REF(PROP_PARENT_JOINT_INDEX, ParentJointIndex, parentJointIndex, quint16, -1);
     DEFINE_PROPERTY_REF(PROP_QUERY_AA_CUBE, QueryAACube, queryAACube, AACube, AACube());
 
     // these are used when bouncing location data into and out of scripts