diff --git a/etemplate/inc/class.contact_widget.inc.php b/etemplate/inc/class.contact_widget.inc.php
index 1aa43d5704..4f2c58e0ab 100644
--- a/etemplate/inc/class.contact_widget.inc.php
+++ b/etemplate/inc/class.contact_widget.inc.php
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ class contact_widget
 					!($this->contact = $this->contacts->read($value)))
 				{
 					$cell = $tmpl->empty_cell();
+					$value = '';
 					break;
 				}
 				$value = $this->contact[$cell['size']];