diff --git a/src/traces/splom/defaults.js b/src/traces/splom/defaults.js
index afcb002e8b3..599ee63fc9f 100644
--- a/src/traces/splom/defaults.js
+++ b/src/traces/splom/defaults.js
@@ -113,14 +113,14 @@ function handleAxisDefaults(traceIn, traceOut, layout, coerce) {
 
     for(i = 0; i < dimLength; i++) {
         var dim = dimensions[i];
-        var xa = xaxes[i + xShift];
-        var ya = yaxes[i + yShift];
+        var xaId = xaxes[i + xShift];
+        var yaId = yaxes[i + yShift];
 
-        fillAxisStash(layout, xa, dim);
-        fillAxisStash(layout, ya, dim);
+        fillAxisStash(layout, xaId, dim);
+        fillAxisStash(layout, yaId, dim);
 
         // note that some the entries here may be undefined
-        diag[i] = [xa, ya];
+        diag[i] = [xaId, yaId];
     }
 
     // when lower half is omitted, override grid default