diff --git a/tools/api-builder/typescript-package/processors/readTypeScriptModules.js b/tools/api-builder/typescript-package/processors/readTypeScriptModules.js
index e9eeef74db..2445546a28 100644
--- a/tools/api-builder/typescript-package/processors/readTypeScriptModules.js
+++ b/tools/api-builder/typescript-package/processors/readTypeScriptModules.js
@@ -372,6 +372,14 @@ module.exports = function readTypeScriptModules(tsParser, modules, getFileInfo,
     var sourceFile = ts.getSourceFileOfNode(declaration);
     if (declaration.type) {
       return getType(sourceFile, declaration.type).trim();
+    } else if (declaration.initializer) {
+      // The symbol does not have a "type" but it is being initialized
+      // so we can deduce the type of from the initializer (mostly).
+      if (declaration.initializer.expression) {
+        return declaration.initializer.expression.text.trim();
+      } else {
+        return getType(sourceFile, declaration.initializer).trim();
+      }
     }
   }