diff --git a/include/interfaces/abstract/STARSSegment.h b/include/interfaces/abstract/STARSSegment.h
index 6d19a77a6cfff7090ba0b728d4c28058249b5cd0..f1c9841754469d9894c4c991889aa96bd8ec2c97 100644
--- a/include/interfaces/abstract/STARSSegment.h
+++ b/include/interfaces/abstract/STARSSegment.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class STARS_Segment_t
 
 		/* figure out what kind of segment this is */
 		virtual bool IsCodeSegment() =0 ;
-		virtual bool IsXternSegment() =0 ;
+		virtual bool IsXternSegment() { return false; };
 		virtual bool IsDataSegment() =0 ;
 		virtual bool IsCommonSegment() =0 ;
 		virtual bool IsBSSSegment() =0 ;