diff --git a/src/components/views/dialogs/devtools/Event.tsx b/src/components/views/dialogs/devtools/Event.tsx
index 3e0e681c22..c63659a915 100644
--- a/src/components/views/dialogs/devtools/Event.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/dialogs/devtools/Event.tsx
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ export const TimelineEventEditor: React.FC<IEditorProps> = ({ mxEvent, onBack })
         return cli.sendEvent(context.room.roomId, eventType, content || {});
     };
 
-    let defaultContent = "";
+    let defaultContent: string | undefined;
 
     if (mxEvent) {
         const originalContent = mxEvent.getContent();