diff --git a/spyderlib/widgets/externalshell/namespacebrowser.py b/spyderlib/widgets/externalshell/namespacebrowser.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/spyderlib/widgets/externalshell/namespacebrowser.py
+++ b/spyderlib/widgets/externalshell/namespacebrowser.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ class NamespaceBrowser(QWidget):
         

         self.shellwidget = None

         self.is_internal_shell = None

-        self.is_visible = False

+        

+        self.is_visible = True # Do not modify: light mode won't work!

         

         self.setup_in_progress = None
Spyder light mode's variable explorer was broken: fixed!