diff --git a/lisp/jsonrpc.el b/lisp/jsonrpc.el
index f7ccc8d2745..67243fd49e3 100644
--- a/lisp/jsonrpc.el
+++ b/lisp/jsonrpc.el
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
 (defclass jsonrpc-connection ()
   ((name
     :accessor jsonrpc-name
+    :initform "anonymous"
     :initarg :name
     :documentation "A name for the connection")
    (-request-dispatcher
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@
     :accessor jsonrpc--events-buffer
     :documentation "A buffer pretty-printing the JSONRPC events")
    (-events-buffer-scrollback-size
+    :initform nil
     :initarg :events-buffer-scrollback-size
     :accessor jsonrpc--events-buffer-scrollback-size
     :documentation "Max size of events buffer.  0 disables, nil means infinite.")