diff --git a/src/mesa_pd/mpi/SyncNextNeighborsBlockForest.cpp b/src/mesa_pd/mpi/SyncNextNeighborsBlockForest.cpp
index 174d8a376bfe521bf3a20052f401cc8657d42a9a..08bfc37ef2fe59ac0e128809d0d0bbdcd9ccf5a7 100644
--- a/src/mesa_pd/mpi/SyncNextNeighborsBlockForest.cpp
+++ b/src/mesa_pd/mpi/SyncNextNeighborsBlockForest.cpp
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ void SyncNextNeighborsBlockForest::operator()(data::ParticleStorage& ps,
 {
    if (numProcesses_ == 1) return;
 
+   bs = walberla::mpi::BufferSystem( walberla::mpi::MPIManager::instance()->comm() );
 
    for (auto& blk : bf->getBlockMap())
    {