diff --git a/variant/mixins.py b/variant/mixins.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/variant/mixins.py
+++ b/variant/mixins.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from collections import defaultdict
 from .utils import get_experiment_variant
 
 
@@ -6,7 +7,7 @@ class VariantTestMixin(object):
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super(VariantTestMixin, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-        self.variants = {}
+        self.variants = defaultdict(lambda: None)
 
     def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         self.set_variants()
diff --git a/variant/tests/mixin_tests.py b/variant/tests/mixin_tests.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/variant/tests/mixin_tests.py
+++ b/variant/tests/mixin_tests.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ class VariantTestMixinTest(TestCase):
 
     def test_init(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.view.variants, {})
+        self.assertIs(self.view.variants['dne'], None)
 
     def test_dispatch(self):
         request = mock.MagicMock()
use default dict variants cache on view mixin