diff --git a/src/ltable.c b/src/ltable.c
index d7eb69a..5a0d066 100644
--- a/src/ltable.c
+++ b/src/ltable.c
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@
   GCObject *o = luaC_newobj(L, LUA_VTABLE, sizeof(Table));
   Table *t = gco2t(o);
   t->metatable = NULL;
-  t->flags = cast_byte(~0);
+  t->flags = cast_byte(maskflags);  /* table has no metamethod fields */
   t->array = NULL;
   t->alimit = 0;
   setnodevector(L, t, 0);