diff --git a/mira/Decoder.cpp b/mira/Decoder.cpp
index 5bbc721ac..2e3caae17 100644
--- a/mira/Decoder.cpp
+++ b/mira/Decoder.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,15 @@ namespace Mira {
     }
     delete[] mosesargv;
   }
+ 
+  MosesDecoder::MosesDecoder() 
+		: m_manager(NULL)
+		{
+      //force initialisation of the phrase dictionary
+      string source("hello");
+      MosesChart::TrellisPathList sentences;
+      getNBest(source,1,sentences);
+    }
   
 	void MosesDecoder::cleanup()
 	{
diff --git a/mira/Decoder.h b/mira/Decoder.h
index 38acff96e..3422c3947 100644
--- a/mira/Decoder.h
+++ b/mira/Decoder.h
@@ -62,9 +62,7 @@ class Decoder {
  **/
 class MosesDecoder : public Decoder {
   public:
-    MosesDecoder()
-		: m_manager(NULL)
-		{}
+    MosesDecoder();
 	
     virtual void getNBest(const std::string& source, size_t count, MosesChart::TrellisPathList& sentences);
 		void cleanup();