diff --git a/src/lib/AST/ASTVisitor.cpp b/src/lib/AST/ASTVisitor.cpp
index 89390556bc..b9d4b16984 100644
--- a/src/lib/AST/ASTVisitor.cpp
+++ b/src/lib/AST/ASTVisitor.cpp
@@ -1137,6 +1137,23 @@ populate(TypedefSymbol& I, clang::TypeAliasTemplateDecl const* D)
     }
 }
 
+// A variable with no written initializer can still carry an implicit
+// initializer in the AST. Any default-constructed class instance (`T t;`) gets
+// an implicit construction expression located at the variable name, so the
+// extracted source text is the variable name and would cause a spurious `= t`
+// to be rendered in the docs. So, we intercept this case. A written `{}`, a
+// copy-initialization such as `= x`, and literal initializers are left alone.
+static
+bool
+isImplicitDefaultInit(clang::Expr const* E)
+{
+    clang::CXXConstructExpr const* ctor =
+        dyn_cast<clang::CXXConstructExpr>(E->IgnoreImplicit());
+    return ctor != nullptr
+        && ctor->getNumArgs() == 0
+        && ctor->getParenOrBraceRange().isInvalid();
+}
+
 void
 ASTVisitor::
 populate(
@@ -1161,7 +1178,8 @@ populate(
     I.IsConstinit |= D->hasAttr<clang::ConstInitAttr>();
     I.IsConstexpr |= D->isConstexpr();
     I.IsInline |= D->isInline();
-    if (clang::Expr const* E = D->getInit())
+    if (clang::Expr const* E = D->getInit();
+        E && !isImplicitDefaultInit(E))
     {
         populate(I.Initializer, E);
     }
diff --git a/test-files/golden-tests/symbols/variable/default-constructed-instance.cpp b/test-files/golden-tests/symbols/variable/default-constructed-instance.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2ed1bf77f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-files/golden-tests/symbols/variable/default-constructed-instance.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+struct tag_base {};
+
+/** A default-constructed instance of a same-named tag type (see issue #1238). */
+inline constexpr struct flag final : tag_base {} flag;
+
+/** A copy-initialized variable. */
+inline constexpr auto flag_copy = flag;
+
+/** A value-initialized variable. */
+inline constexpr tag_base braced{};
+
+/** A variable with a literal initializer. */
+inline constexpr int literal = 7;
diff --git a/test-files/golden-tests/symbols/variable/default-constructed-instance.xml b/test-files/golden-tests/symbols/variable/default-constructed-instance.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e9f9bac5d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-files/golden-tests/symbols/variable/default-constructed-instance.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,211 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<mrdocs xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="https://github.com/cppalliance/mrdocs/raw/develop/mrdocs.rnc">
+<namespace>
+  <source>
+  </source>
+  <kind>namespace</kind>
+  <id>//////////////////////////8=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <namespace-tranche>
+    <records>5sB+nY7A37FZIfir11OpIKC12Ok=</records>
+    <records>8tmm5w1vdZa8PYl9AaZ5HNozN/k=</records>
+    <variables>V/VOefC+Lirvlyv4ml0GPg3tkb8=</variables>
+    <variables>4BBlDC8MjV0Km82gDuPpLniry80=</variables>
+    <variables>w7084vhWPkLDZ/7kZBE9YeheM8E=</variables>
+    <variables>/2+SAVa0lxHgZkikhVVwJfO2tZY=</variables>
+  </namespace-tranche>
+</namespace>
+<record>
+  <name>flag</name>
+  <source>
+    <location>
+      <short-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</short-path>
+      <source-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</source-path>
+      <line-number>4</line-number>
+      <column-number>18</column-number>
+      <documented>1</documented>
+    </location>
+  </source>
+  <kind>record</kind>
+  <id>5sB+nY7A37FZIfir11OpIKC12Ok=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <parent>//////////////////////////8=</parent>
+  <doc-comment>
+    <brief>
+      <kind>brief</kind>
+      <text>
+        <kind>text</kind>
+        <literal>A default-constructed instance of a same-named tag type (see issue #1238).</literal>
+      </text>
+    </brief>
+  </doc-comment>
+  <key-kind>struct</key-kind>
+  <is-final>1</is-final>
+  <base>
+    <named>
+      <name>
+        <kind>identifier</kind>
+        <id>8tmm5w1vdZa8PYl9AaZ5HNozN/k=</id>
+        <identifier>tag_base</identifier>
+      </name>
+    </named>
+  </base>
+  <record-interface>
+    <record-tranche>
+    </record-tranche>
+    <record-tranche>
+    </record-tranche>
+    <record-tranche>
+    </record-tranche>
+  </record-interface>
+</record>
+<record>
+  <name>tag_base</name>
+  <source>
+    <location>
+      <short-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</short-path>
+      <source-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</source-path>
+      <line-number>1</line-number>
+      <column-number>1</column-number>
+    </location>
+  </source>
+  <kind>record</kind>
+  <id>8tmm5w1vdZa8PYl9AaZ5HNozN/k=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <parent>//////////////////////////8=</parent>
+  <key-kind>struct</key-kind>
+  <derived>5sB+nY7A37FZIfir11OpIKC12Ok=</derived>
+  <record-interface>
+    <record-tranche>
+    </record-tranche>
+    <record-tranche>
+    </record-tranche>
+    <record-tranche>
+    </record-tranche>
+  </record-interface>
+</record>
+<variable>
+  <name>braced</name>
+  <source>
+    <location>
+      <short-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</short-path>
+      <source-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</source-path>
+      <line-number>10</line-number>
+      <column-number>1</column-number>
+      <documented>1</documented>
+    </location>
+  </source>
+  <kind>variable</kind>
+  <id>V/VOefC+Lirvlyv4ml0GPg3tkb8=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <parent>//////////////////////////8=</parent>
+  <doc-comment>
+    <brief>
+      <kind>brief</kind>
+      <text>
+        <kind>text</kind>
+        <literal>A value-initialized variable.</literal>
+      </text>
+    </brief>
+  </doc-comment>
+  <named>
+    <name>
+      <kind>identifier</kind>
+      <id>8tmm5w1vdZa8PYl9AaZ5HNozN/k=</id>
+      <identifier>tag_base</identifier>
+    </name>
+  </named>
+  <initializer>{}</initializer>
+  <is-inline>1</is-inline>
+  <is-constexpr>1</is-constexpr>
+</variable>
+<variable>
+  <name>flag</name>
+  <source>
+    <location>
+      <short-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</short-path>
+      <source-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</source-path>
+      <line-number>4</line-number>
+      <column-number>1</column-number>
+    </location>
+  </source>
+  <kind>variable</kind>
+  <id>4BBlDC8MjV0Km82gDuPpLniry80=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <parent>//////////////////////////8=</parent>
+  <named>
+    <name>
+      <kind>identifier</kind>
+      <id>5sB+nY7A37FZIfir11OpIKC12Ok=</id>
+      <identifier>flag</identifier>
+    </name>
+  </named>
+  <is-inline>1</is-inline>
+  <is-constexpr>1</is-constexpr>
+</variable>
+<variable>
+  <name>flag_copy</name>
+  <source>
+    <location>
+      <short-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</short-path>
+      <source-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</source-path>
+      <line-number>7</line-number>
+      <column-number>1</column-number>
+      <documented>1</documented>
+    </location>
+  </source>
+  <kind>variable</kind>
+  <id>w7084vhWPkLDZ/7kZBE9YeheM8E=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <parent>//////////////////////////8=</parent>
+  <doc-comment>
+    <brief>
+      <kind>brief</kind>
+      <text>
+        <kind>text</kind>
+        <literal>A copy-initialized variable.</literal>
+      </text>
+    </brief>
+  </doc-comment>
+  <auto>
+  </auto>
+  <initializer>flag</initializer>
+  <is-inline>1</is-inline>
+  <is-constexpr>1</is-constexpr>
+</variable>
+<variable>
+  <name>literal</name>
+  <source>
+    <location>
+      <short-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</short-path>
+      <source-path>default-constructed-instance.cpp</source-path>
+      <line-number>13</line-number>
+      <column-number>1</column-number>
+      <documented>1</documented>
+    </location>
+  </source>
+  <kind>variable</kind>
+  <id>/2+SAVa0lxHgZkikhVVwJfO2tZY=</id>
+  <extraction>regular</extraction>
+  <parent>//////////////////////////8=</parent>
+  <doc-comment>
+    <brief>
+      <kind>brief</kind>
+      <text>
+        <kind>text</kind>
+        <literal>A variable with a literal initializer.</literal>
+      </text>
+    </brief>
+  </doc-comment>
+  <named>
+    <name>
+      <kind>identifier</kind>
+      <identifier>int</identifier>
+    </name>
+  </named>
+  <initializer>7</initializer>
+  <is-inline>1</is-inline>
+  <is-constexpr>1</is-constexpr>
+</variable>
+</mrdocs>