diff --git a/src/libmain/shared.cc b/src/libmain/shared.cc
index a25865aad..56f47a4ac 100644
--- a/src/libmain/shared.cc
+++ b/src/libmain/shared.cc
@@ -118,7 +118,6 @@ void initNix()
     std::cerr.rdbuf()->pubsetbuf(buf, sizeof(buf));
 #endif
 
-    initLibUtil();
     initLibStore();
 
     startSignalHandlerThread();
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index 5a8825be5..3f944f024 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -336,6 +336,8 @@ void assertLibStoreInitialized() {
 
 void initLibStore() {
 
+    initLibUtil();
+
     if (sodium_init() == -1)
         throw Error("could not initialise libsodium");