diff --git a/jack/util/vocab.py b/jack/util/vocab.py
index b7ea4b4e..d63c325f 100644
--- a/jack/util/vocab.py
+++ b/jack/util/vocab.py
@@ -237,6 +237,9 @@ def load(self, path: str):
         conf_file = os.path.join(path, "conf.yaml")
         emb_file = os.path.join(path, "emb.pkl")
         remainder_file = os.path.join(path, "remainder.pkl")
+
+        emb = None
+
         if os.path.exists(conf_file):
             with open(conf_file, "r") as f:
                 config = yaml.load(f)