diff --git a/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/ClassDefItem.java b/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/ClassDefItem.java
index a838d71f..b15b6663 100644
--- a/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/ClassDefItem.java
+++ b/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/ClassDefItem.java
@@ -268,6 +268,12 @@ public class ClassDefItem extends Item<ClassDefItem> {
                 });
             }
 
+            //we need to initialize the offset for all the classes to -1, so we can tell which ones
+            //have been placed
+            for (ClassDefItem classDefItem: section.items) {
+                classDefItem.offset = -1;
+            }
+
             for (ClassDefItem classDefItem: section.items) {
                 placeClass(classDefItem);
             }
diff --git a/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/Item.java b/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/Item.java
index d6dad14b..abf312e9 100644
--- a/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/Item.java
+++ b/dexlib/src/main/java/org/jf/dexlib/Item.java
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@ public abstract class Item<T extends Item> implements Comparable<T> {
     /**
      * The offset of this item in the dex file, or -1 if not known
      */
-    private int offset = -1;
+    protected int offset = -1;
 
     /**
      * The index of this item in the containing section, or -1 if not known
      */
-    private int index = -1;
+    protected int index = -1;
 
     /**
      * The DexFile that this item is associatedr with