diff --git a/src/rgw/driver/rados/rgw_zone.cc b/src/rgw/driver/rados/rgw_zone.cc
index 11b57e42720..e6cc54d69d8 100644
--- a/src/rgw/driver/rados/rgw_zone.cc
+++ b/src/rgw/driver/rados/rgw_zone.cc
@@ -1035,10 +1035,12 @@ int create_zone(const DoutPrefixProvider* dpp, optional_yield y,
   }
 
   // add default placement with empty pool name
+  RGWZonePlacementInfo placement;
   rgw_pool pool;
-  auto& placement = info.placement_pools["default-placement"];
   placement.storage_classes.set_storage_class(
       RGW_STORAGE_CLASS_STANDARD, &pool, nullptr);
+  // don't overwrite if it already exists
+  info.placement_pools.emplace("default-placement", std::move(placement));
 
   // build a set of all pool names used by other zones
   std::set<rgw_pool> pools;