diff --git a/modules/node/node.module b/modules/node/node.module
index 524a57fa7e744d116e9306af60d7a2420f99fb3a..2dd1926f175415b64cb65a69888b0ec51852d7b0 100644
--- a/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/modules/node/node.module
@@ -1455,6 +1455,7 @@ function template_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
   $variables = array_merge((array) $node, $variables);
 
   // Helpful $content variable for templates.
+  $variables['content'] = array();
   foreach (element_children($variables['elements']) as $key) {
     $variables['content'][$key] = $variables['elements'][$key];
   }