diff --git a/validation/validate-mmcif-file.py b/validation/validate-mmcif-file.py
index 97edaeb32d43fb300d6913c0254e277dfbdffb62..91b17f22b0f6360950c213001db538b76ed35d29 100755
--- a/validation/validate-mmcif-file.py
+++ b/validation/validate-mmcif-file.py
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ class _CifCheck:
 
     def __init__(self, dict_sdb, json_out_file=None, verbose=False):
         self._version = None
-        self.check_results = {"errors": [], "diagnosis": []}
+        self.check_results = {"errors": [], "diagnosis": [], "cifcheck-errors": []}
         self.dict_sdb = os.path.abspath(dict_sdb)
         self.json_out_file = json_out_file
         self.verbose = verbose