diff --git a/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp b/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp
index 3d53439a1..f4c6ca4cf 100644
--- a/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp
+++ b/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp
@@ -574,7 +574,8 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
 
     {
         // set update hte default traversal mode settings for update visitor
-        osg::NodeVisitor::TraversalMode updateTraversalMode = viewer.getUpdateVisitor()->getTraversalMode();
+        // default to osg::NodeVisitor::TRAVERSE_ACTIVE_CHILDREN.
+        osg::NodeVisitor::TraversalMode updateTraversalMode = osg::NodeVisitor::TRAVERSE_ACTIVE_CHILDREN; // viewer.getUpdateVisitor()->getTraversalMode();
 
         const char* p3dUpdateStr = getenv("P3D_UPDATE");
         if (p3dUpdateStr)