diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc b/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc
index 250a0d8ca8..f9b4b5f366 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/rc_option_editor.cc
@@ -3717,7 +3717,7 @@ RCOptionEditor::RCOptionEditor ()
 			new RcActionButton (_("Edit"),
 				sigc::bind (sigc::mem_fun (*this, &RCOptionEditor::edit_vst_path),
 					_("Set Additional VST3 Search Path"),
-					PluginManager::instance().get_default_windows_vst_path (),
+					"", /* default is blank */
 					sigc::mem_fun (*_rc_config, &RCConfiguration::get_plugin_path_vst3),
 					sigc::mem_fun (*_rc_config, &RCConfiguration::set_plugin_path_vst3)
 					),