diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
index bb33c2823c..c7dffd7a76 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
@@ -2250,7 +2250,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
     if (setlocale(LC_ALL, "") == NULL ||
         bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR) == NULL ||
-        textdomain(PACKAGE) == NULL) {
+        textdomain(PACKAGE) == NULL ||
+        virThreadInitialize() < 0 ||
+        virErrorInitialize() < 0) {
         fprintf(stderr, _("%s: initialization failed\n"), argv[0]);
         exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
diff --git a/src/util/virlog.c b/src/util/virlog.c
index 72e30cd1be..997d582c75 100644
--- a/src/util/virlog.c
+++ b/src/util/virlog.c
@@ -547,6 +547,9 @@ virLogDefineFilter(const char *match,
 
     virCheckFlags(VIR_LOG_STACK_TRACE, -1);
 
+    if (virLogInitialize() < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     if ((match == NULL) || (priority < VIR_LOG_DEBUG) ||
         (priority > VIR_LOG_ERROR))
         return -1;
@@ -662,6 +665,9 @@ virLogDefineOutput(virLogOutputFunc f,
 
     virCheckFlags(0, -1);
 
+    if (virLogInitialize() < 0)
+        return -1;
+
     if (f == NULL)
         return -1;