diff --git a/src/synchronizer/mpi_communicator_data.hh b/src/synchronizer/mpi_communicator_data.hh
index 217553da3..77f22e0a7 100644
--- a/src/synchronizer/mpi_communicator_data.hh
+++ b/src/synchronizer/mpi_communicator_data.hh
@@ -1,136 +1,137 @@
 /**
  * @file   mpi_communicator_data.hh
  *
  * @author Nicolas Richart <nicolas.richart@epfl.ch>
  *
  * @date creation: Mon Jun 14 2010
  * @date last modification: Mon Feb 05 2018
  *
  * @brief  Wrapper on MPI types to have a better separation between libraries
  *
  * @section LICENSE
  *
  * Copyright (©)  2010-2018 EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
  * Laboratory (LSMS - Laboratoire de Simulation en Mécanique des Solides)
  *
  * Akantu is free  software: you can redistribute it and/or  modify it under the
  * terms  of the  GNU Lesser  General Public  License as published by  the Free
  * Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any
  * later version.
  *
  * Akantu is  distributed in the  hope that it  will be useful, but  WITHOUT ANY
  * WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR
  * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See  the GNU  Lesser General  Public License  for more
  * details.
  *
  * You should  have received  a copy  of the GNU  Lesser General  Public License
  * along with Akantu. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  *
  */
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 #if defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
 //#pragma warning ( disable : 383 )
 #elif defined(__clang__) // test clang to be sure that when we test for gnu it
 // is only gnu
 #elif (defined(__GNUC__) || defined(__GNUG__))
 #if __cplusplus > 199711L
 #pragma GCC diagnostic push
 #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wliteral-suffix"
 #endif
 #endif
 
 #include <mpi.h>
 
 #if defined(__INTEL_COMPILER)
 //#pragma warning ( disable : 383 )
 #elif defined(__clang__) // test clang to be sure that when we test for gnu it
 // is only gnu
 #elif (defined(__GNUC__) || defined(__GNUG__))
 #if __cplusplus > 199711L
 #pragma GCC diagnostic pop
 #endif
 #endif
 
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 #include "communicator.hh"
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 #include <unordered_map>
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
 #ifndef __AKANTU_MPI_TYPE_WRAPPER_HH__
 #define __AKANTU_MPI_TYPE_WRAPPER_HH__
 
 namespace akantu {
 
 class MPICommunicatorData : public CommunicatorInternalData {
 public:
   MPICommunicatorData() {
     MPI_Initialized(&is_externaly_initialized);
     if (not is_externaly_initialized) {
       MPI_Init(nullptr, nullptr); // valid according to the spec
     }
 
     MPI_Comm_create_errhandler(MPICommunicatorData::errorHandler,
                                &error_handler);
     MPI_Comm_set_errhandler(MPI_COMM_WORLD, error_handler);
     setMPICommunicator(MPI_COMM_WORLD);
   }
 
   ~MPICommunicatorData() override {
     if (not is_externaly_initialized) {
       MPI_Comm_set_errhandler(communicator, save_error_handler);
       MPI_Errhandler_free(&error_handler);
       MPI_Finalize();
     }
   }
 
   inline void setMPICommunicator(MPI_Comm comm) {
     MPI_Comm_set_errhandler(communicator, save_error_handler);
     communicator = comm;
     MPI_Comm_get_errhandler(comm, &save_error_handler);
     MPI_Comm_set_errhandler(comm, error_handler);
   }
 
   inline int rank() const {
     int prank;
     MPI_Comm_rank(communicator, &prank);
     return prank;
   }
 
   inline int size() const {
     int psize;
     MPI_Comm_size(communicator, &psize);
     return psize;
   }
 
   inline MPI_Comm getMPICommunicator() const { return communicator; }
   inline int getMaxTag() const {
     int flag;
     int * value;
-    MPI_Comm_get_attr(communicator, MPI_TAG_UB, &value, &flag);
+    // not defined on derived intra-communicator
+    MPI_Comm_get_attr(MPI_COMM_WORLD, MPI_TAG_UB, &value, &flag);
     AKANTU_DEBUG_ASSERT(flag, "No attribute MPI_TAG_UB.");
     return *value;
   }
 
 private:
   MPI_Comm communicator{MPI_COMM_WORLD};
   MPI_Errhandler save_error_handler{MPI_ERRORS_ARE_FATAL};
   static int is_externaly_initialized;
   /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ */
   MPI_Errhandler error_handler;
 
   static void errorHandler(MPI_Comm * /*comm*/, int * error_code, ...) {
     char error_string[MPI_MAX_ERROR_STRING];
     int str_len;
     MPI_Error_string(*error_code, error_string, &str_len);
     AKANTU_CUSTOM_EXCEPTION_INFO(debug::CommunicationException(),
                                  "MPI failed with the error code "
                                      << *error_code << ": \"" << error_string
                                      << "\"");
   }
 };
 
 } // namespace akantu
 
 #endif /* __AKANTU_MPI_TYPE_WRAPPER_HH__ */