diff --git a/util/event_notifier-posix.c b/util/event_notifier-posix.c
index 5b2110e861..8307013c5d 100644
--- a/util/event_notifier-posix.c
+++ b/util/event_notifier-posix.c
@@ -66,10 +66,10 @@ int event_notifier_init(EventNotifier *e, int active)
         e->rfd = fds[0];
         e->wfd = fds[1];
     }
+    e->initialized = true;
     if (active) {
         event_notifier_set(e);
     }
-    e->initialized = true;
     return 0;
 
 fail: