diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/readclause.c b/src/libespeak-ng/readclause.c
index 47c63a4d..9b98b618 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/readclause.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/readclause.c
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 #include "ssml.h"                 // for SSML_STACK, ProcessSsmlTag, N_PARAM...
 #include "synthdata.h"            // for SelectPhonemeTable
 #include "translate.h"            // for Translator, utf8_out, CLAUSE_OPTION...
-#include "voice.h"                // for voice, voice_t, current_voice_selected
+#include "voice.h"                // for voice, voice_t, espeak_GetCurrentVoice
 
 #define N_XML_BUF   500
 
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ void SetVoiceStack(espeak_VOICE *v, const char *variant_name)
 	if (variant_name[0] == '!' && variant_name[1] == 'v' && variant_name[2] == PATHSEP)
 		variant_name += 3; // strip variant directory name, !v plus PATHSEP
 	strncpy0(base_voice_variant_name, variant_name, sizeof(base_voice_variant_name));
-	memcpy(&base_voice, &current_voice_selected, sizeof(base_voice));
+	memcpy(&base_voice, espeak_GetCurrentVoice(), sizeof(base_voice));
 }
 
 static void RemoveChar(char *p)
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c b/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c
index a3fa3c01..4e09e51c 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/speech.c
@@ -381,7 +381,8 @@ ESPEAK_NG_API espeak_ng_STATUS espeak_ng_Initialize(espeak_ng_ERROR_CONTEXT *con
 	WavegenInit(srate, 0);
 	LoadConfig();
 
-	memset(&current_voice_selected, 0, sizeof(current_voice_selected));
+	espeak_VOICE *current_voice_selected = espeak_GetCurrentVoice();
+	memset(current_voice_selected, 0, sizeof(espeak_VOICE));
 	SetVoiceStack(NULL, "");
 	SynthesizeInit();
 	InitNamedata();
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h b/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h
index f05c0695..ab079cd5 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/voice.h
@@ -79,8 +79,6 @@ typedef struct {
 
 } voice_t;
 
-extern espeak_VOICE current_voice_selected;
-
 extern voice_t *voice;
 extern int tone_points[12];
 
diff --git a/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c b/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
index aeabdc82..c71b4bb6 100644
--- a/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
+++ b/src/libespeak-ng/voices.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ int formant_rate[9]; // values adjusted for actual sample rate
 static int n_voices_list = 0;
 static espeak_VOICE *voices_list[N_VOICES_LIST];
 
-espeak_VOICE current_voice_selected;
+static espeak_VOICE current_voice_selected;
 
 #define N_VOICE_VARIANTS   12
 static const char variants_either[N_VOICE_VARIANTS] = { 1, 2, 12, 3, 13, 4, 14, 5, 11, 0 };