diff --git a/src/sequence.rs b/src/sequence.rs
index a1064c2..5098b62 100644
--- a/src/sequence.rs
+++ b/src/sequence.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use strum_macros::{AsRefStr, Display};
+use SequenceReadPairOrientation::None;
 
 /// A DNA base
 pub type Base = u8;
@@ -56,3 +57,9 @@ pub enum SequenceReadPairOrientation {
     R2R1,
     None,
 }
+
+impl Default for SequenceReadPairOrientation {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        None
+    }
+}