diff --git a/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.cpp b/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.cpp
index f38c14ba7..aa7b14709 100644
--- a/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@
 using namespace gtsam;
 using namespace std;
 
+// In Wrappers we have no access to this so have a default ready.
+static std::mt19937 kRandomNumberGenerator(42);
+
 TranslationRecovery::TranslationRecovery(
     const TranslationRecovery::TranslationEdges &relativeTranslations,
     const LevenbergMarquardtParams &lmParams)
@@ -88,13 +91,15 @@ void TranslationRecovery::addPrior(
       edge->key2(), scale * edge->measured().point3(), edge->noiseModel());
 }
 
-Values TranslationRecovery::initalizeRandomly() const {
+Values TranslationRecovery::initializeRandomly(std::mt19937 &rng) const {
+  uniform_real_distribution<double> randomVal(-1, 1);
   // Create a lambda expression that checks whether value exists and randomly
   // initializes if not.
   Values initial;
-  auto insert = [&initial](Key j) {
+  auto insert = [&initial, &rng, &randomVal](Key j) {
     if (!initial.exists(j)) {
-      initial.insert<Point3>(j, Vector3::Random());
+      initial.insert<Point3>(
+          j, Point3(randomVal(rng), randomVal(rng), randomVal(rng)));
     }
   };
 
@@ -115,10 +120,14 @@ Values TranslationRecovery::initalizeRandomly() const {
   return initial;
 }
 
+Values TranslationRecovery::initializeRandomly() const {
+  return initializeRandomly(kRandomNumberGenerator);
+}
+
 Values TranslationRecovery::run(const double scale) const {
   auto graph = buildGraph();
   addPrior(scale, &graph);
-  const Values initial = initalizeRandomly();
+  const Values initial = initializeRandomly();
   LevenbergMarquardtOptimizer lm(graph, initial, params_);
   Values result = lm.optimize();
 
diff --git a/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.h b/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.h
index c99836853..430b54d1d 100644
--- a/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.h
+++ b/gtsam/sfm/TranslationRecovery.h
@@ -99,10 +99,18 @@ class TranslationRecovery {
 
   /**
    * @brief Create random initial translations.
-   *
+   * 
+   * @param rng random number generator
    * @return Values
    */
-  Values initalizeRandomly() const;
+  Values initializeRandomly(std::mt19937 &rng) const;
+
+  /**
+   * @brief Version of initializeRandomly with a fixed seed.
+   * 
+   * @return Values
+   */
+  Values initializeRandomly() const;
 
   /**
    * @brief Build and optimize factor graph.