diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 5d13d2fd5e..801d48709c 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -2767,6 +2767,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     FILE *vmstate_dump_file = NULL;
     Error *main_loop_err = NULL;
 
+    qemu_init_cpu_loop();
+    qemu_mutex_lock_iothread();
+
     atexit(qemu_run_exit_notifiers);
     error_set_progname(argv[0]);
     qemu_init_exec_dir(argv[0]);
@@ -4102,9 +4105,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
 
     os_set_line_buffering();
 
-    qemu_init_cpu_loop();
-    qemu_mutex_lock_iothread();
-
 #ifdef CONFIG_SPICE
     /* spice needs the timers to be initialized by this point */
     qemu_spice_init();