diff -r 4e2b69138ab9 Lib/tkinter/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/tkinter/__init__.py	Wed Dec 25 17:36:20 2013 +0200
+++ b/Lib/tkinter/__init__.py	Wed Dec 25 18:12:57 2013 +0200
@@ -220,12 +220,12 @@
             _varnum += 1
         if value is not None:
             self.initialize(value)
-        elif not self._tk.call("info", "exists", self._name):
+        elif not self._tk.getboolean(self._tk.call("info", "exists", self._name)):
             self.initialize(self._default)
     def __del__(self):
         """Unset the variable in Tcl."""
-        if (self._tk is not None and self._tk.call("info", "exists",
-                                                   self._name)):
+        if (self._tk is not None and
+            self._tk.getboolean(self._tk.call("info", "exists", self._name))):
             self._tk.globalunsetvar(self._name)
     def __str__(self):
         """Return the name of the variable in Tcl."""
diff -r 4e2b69138ab9 Lib/tkinter/test/test_tkinter/test_variables.py
--- a/Lib/tkinter/test/test_tkinter/test_variables.py	Wed Dec 25 17:36:20 2013 +0200
+++ b/Lib/tkinter/test/test_tkinter/test_variables.py	Wed Dec 25 18:12:57 2013 +0200
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 
 class TestVariable(TestBase):
 
+    def info_exists(self, *args):
+        return self.root.getboolean(self.root.call("info", "exists", *args))
+
     def test_default(self):
         v = Variable(self.root)
         self.assertEqual("", v.get())
@@ -35,21 +38,21 @@
         self.assertEqual("varname", str(v))
 
     def test___del__(self):
-        self.assertFalse(self.root.call("info", "exists", "varname"))
+        self.assertFalse(self.info_exists("varname"))
         v = Variable(self.root, "sample string", "varname")
-        self.assertTrue(self.root.call("info", "exists", "varname"))
+        self.assertTrue(self.info_exists("varname"))
         del v
-        self.assertFalse(self.root.call("info", "exists", "varname"))
+        self.assertFalse(self.info_exists("varname"))
 
     def test_dont_unset_not_existing(self):
-        self.assertFalse(self.root.call("info", "exists", "varname"))
+        self.assertFalse(self.info_exists("varname"))
         v1 = Variable(self.root, name="name")
         v2 = Variable(self.root, name="name")
         del v1
-        self.assertFalse(self.root.call("info", "exists", "name"))
+        self.assertFalse(self.info_exists("name"))
         # shouldn't raise exception
         del v2
-        self.assertFalse(self.root.call("info", "exists", "name"))
+        self.assertFalse(self.info_exists("name"))
 
     def test___eq__(self):
         # values doesn't matter, only class and name are checked