diff --git a/scene/gui/line_edit.cpp b/scene/gui/line_edit.cpp
index 2d18a808334..ed74851755d 100644
--- a/scene/gui/line_edit.cpp
+++ b/scene/gui/line_edit.cpp
@@ -1656,6 +1656,7 @@ LineEdit::LineEdit() {
 	context_menu_enabled = true;
 	menu = memnew(PopupMenu);
 	add_child(menu);
+	editable = false; // initialise to opposite first, so we get past the early-out in set_editable
 	set_editable(true);
 	menu->connect("id_pressed", this, "menu_option");
 	expand_to_text_length = false;
diff --git a/scene/gui/text_edit.cpp b/scene/gui/text_edit.cpp
index 1a000d8da5c..380b670368e 100644
--- a/scene/gui/text_edit.cpp
+++ b/scene/gui/text_edit.cpp
@@ -6661,6 +6661,7 @@ TextEdit::TextEdit() {
 	context_menu_enabled = true;
 	menu = memnew(PopupMenu);
 	add_child(menu);
+	readonly = true; // initialise to opposite first, so we get past the early-out in set_readonly
 	set_readonly(false);
 	menu->connect("id_pressed", this, "menu_option");
 	first_draw = true;