diff --git a/spring-cql/src/main/java/org/springframework/cassandra/support/CassandraAccessor.java b/spring-cql/src/main/java/org/springframework/cassandra/support/CassandraAccessor.java
index 149dfe06d..450d1e078 100644
--- a/spring-cql/src/main/java/org/springframework/cassandra/support/CassandraAccessor.java
+++ b/spring-cql/src/main/java/org/springframework/cassandra/support/CassandraAccessor.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public class CassandraAccessor implements InitializingBean {
 
 	private Session session;
 
-	private CassandraExceptionTranslator exceptionTranslator;
+	private CassandraExceptionTranslator exceptionTranslator = new CassandraExceptionTranslator();
 
 	/**
 	 * Set the exception translator for this instance.