diff --git a/VirtualRobot/Nodes/RobotNode.cpp b/VirtualRobot/Nodes/RobotNode.cpp
index 92bab9d392867d66517771e2e4eeca9de3d26fbd..b9caf22053556c6a7e3026fd6c9363e198e5e9d9 100644
--- a/VirtualRobot/Nodes/RobotNode.cpp
+++ b/VirtualRobot/Nodes/RobotNode.cpp
@@ -858,6 +858,12 @@ namespace VirtualRobot
             this->attachChild(sensor);
         }
 
+        // if we are already initialized, be sure the sensor is also intialized
+        if (initialized)
+        {
+            sensor->initialize(shared_from_this());
+        }
+
         return true;
     }