diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Data.Analysis/StringDataFrameColumn.cs b/src/Microsoft.Data.Analysis/StringDataFrameColumn.cs
index 180555eb08..92f2be029e 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Data.Analysis/StringDataFrameColumn.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Data.Analysis/StringDataFrameColumn.cs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ public partial class StringDataFrameColumn : DataFrameColumn, IEnumerable<string
     {
         private List<List<string>> _stringBuffers = new List<List<string>>(); // To store more than intMax number of strings
 
-        public StringDataFrameColumn(string name, long length) : base(name, length, typeof(string))
+        public StringDataFrameColumn(string name, long length = 0) : base(name, length, typeof(string))
         {
             int numberOfBuffersRequired = Math.Max((int)(length / int.MaxValue), 1);
             for (int i = 0; i < numberOfBuffersRequired; i++)