diff --git a/src/ChangeLog b/src/ChangeLog
index f82494f8a04..cfa9426c882 100644
--- a/src/ChangeLog
+++ b/src/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2011-04-13  Chong Yidong  <cyd@stupidchicken.com>
+
+	* xdisp.c (init_xdisp): Initialize echo_area_window (Bug#6451).
+
 2011-04-10  Samuel Thibault  <sthibault@debian.org>  (tiny change)
 
 	* sysdep.c (wait_for_termination): On GNU Hurd, kill returns -1 on
diff --git a/src/xdisp.c b/src/xdisp.c
index ade95cf3d62..c42410b9f9f 100644
--- a/src/xdisp.c
+++ b/src/xdisp.c
@@ -25139,6 +25139,7 @@ init_xdisp ()
 
   mini_w = XWINDOW (minibuf_window);
   root_window = FRAME_ROOT_WINDOW (XFRAME (WINDOW_FRAME (mini_w)));
+  echo_area_window = minibuf_window;
 
   if (!noninteractive)
     {