diff --git a/fluents/annotations.py b/fluents/annotations.py
index 9b8890b..1aa7fcb 100644
--- a/fluents/annotations.py
+++ b/fluents/annotations.py
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ class AnnotationHandler:
 
 class DictAnnotationHandler(AnnotationHandler):
 
-    def __init__(self, d={}):
+    def __init__(self, d=None):
+        if d == None:
+            d = {}
         self._dict = d
     
     def get_annotations(self, annotationname, ids, default=None):
diff --git a/fluents/selections.py b/fluents/selections.py
index d3684a6..f7a0165 100644
--- a/fluents/selections.py
+++ b/fluents/selections.py
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ class IdListController:
         if dimname == self._dimension:
             return
 
+        self._dimension = dimname 
         self.set_annotation(self._annotation.get(dimname, None))
 
         if not self._annotation.has_key(dimname):
             self._annotation[dimname] = None
-        self._dimension = dimname 
 
     def set_annotation(self, annotation):
         """Set the displayed annotation to annotation.  If annotation is None,