diff --git a/src/robot_model.cpp b/src/robot_model.cpp
index d849dfea36f57711a4532c0a39c4f968bddc690f..f27cdf6fb973fcc206b86e228d08683398992f5a 100644
--- a/src/robot_model.cpp
+++ b/src/robot_model.cpp
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ void RosRobotModel::loadUrdf (const std::string& filename)
     for (;it!=specialJoints_.end();++it) {
         parser.specifyREPName(it->first, it->second);
     }
+    rosInit (false);
 
     m_HDR = parser.parse(filename);