diff --git a/src/global.c b/src/global.c
index 4ee4125e..721d253f 100644
--- a/src/global.c
+++ b/src/global.c
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@
 
 #include "libssh2_priv.h"
 
-int libssh2_initialized = 0;
-int libssh2_init_flags = 0;
+static int _libssh2_initialized = 0;
+static int _libssh2_init_flags = 0;
 
 LIBSSH2_API int libssh2_init(int flags)
 {
-    if (!(flags & LIBSSH2_INIT_NO_CRYPTO_INIT)) {
+    if (libssh2_initialized == 0 && !(flags & LIBSSH2_INIT_NO_CRYPTO_INIT)) {
         libssh2_crypto_init();
     }
 
@@ -57,11 +57,18 @@ LIBSSH2_API void libssh2_exit()
     if (libssh2_initialized == 0)
         return;
 
+    libssh2_initialized--;
+
     if (!(libssh2_init_flags & LIBSSH2_INIT_NO_CRYPTO_INIT)) {
         libssh2_crypto_exit();
     }
 
-    libssh2_initialized--;
-
     return;
 }
+
+void
+_libssh2_init_if_needed (void)
+{
+    if (_libssh2_initialized)
+        libssh2_init (0);
+}
diff --git a/src/libssh2_priv.h b/src/libssh2_priv.h
index 0c2145c3..d2a5f62b 100644
--- a/src/libssh2_priv.h
+++ b/src/libssh2_priv.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (c) 2004-2008, Sara Golemon <sarag@libssh2.org>
+/* Copyright (c) 2004-2008, 2010, Sara Golemon <sarag@libssh2.org>
  * Copyright (c) 2009 by Daniel Stenberg
  * Copyright (c) 2010 Simon Josefsson
  * All rights reserved.
@@ -1200,6 +1200,8 @@ int _libssh2_pem_decode_sequence(unsigned char **data, unsigned int *datalen);
 int _libssh2_pem_decode_integer(unsigned char **data, unsigned int *datalen,
                                 unsigned char **i, unsigned int *ilen);
 
+/* global.c */
+void _libssh2_init_if_needed (void);
 
 /* Conveniance-macros to allow code like this;
 
@@ -1247,6 +1249,4 @@ int _libssh2_pem_decode_integer(unsigned char **data, unsigned int *datalen,
 
 #define ARRAY_SIZE(a) (sizeof ((a)) / sizeof ((a)[0]))
 
-extern int libssh2_initialized;
-
 #endif /* LIBSSH2_H */
diff --git a/src/openssl.c b/src/openssl.c
index 9fbba25c..40c0095e 100644
--- a/src/openssl.c
+++ b/src/openssl.c
@@ -358,8 +358,7 @@ _libssh2_rsa_new_private(libssh2_rsa_ctx ** rsa,
         (pem_read_bio_func) &PEM_read_bio_RSAPrivateKey;
     (void) session;
 
-    if (!libssh2_initialized)
-        libssh2_init(0);
+    _libssh2_init_if_needed ();
 
     return read_private_key_from_file((void **) rsa, read_rsa,
                                       filename, passphrase);
@@ -375,8 +374,7 @@ _libssh2_dsa_new_private(libssh2_dsa_ctx ** dsa,
         (pem_read_bio_func) &PEM_read_bio_DSAPrivateKey;
     (void) session;
 
-    if (!libssh2_initialized)
-        libssh2_init(0);
+    _libssh2_init_if_needed ();
 
     return read_private_key_from_file((void **) dsa, read_dsa,
                                       filename, passphrase);
diff --git a/src/session.c b/src/session.c
index f2809541..55522a52 100644
--- a/src/session.c
+++ b/src/session.c
@@ -457,8 +457,7 @@ libssh2_session_init_ex(LIBSSH2_ALLOC_FUNC((*my_alloc)),
         session->api_block_mode = 1; /* blocking API by default */
         _libssh2_debug(session, LIBSSH2_TRACE_TRANS,
                        "New session resource allocated");
-        if (!libssh2_initialized)
-            libssh2_init(0);
+        _libssh2_init_if_needed ();
     }
     return session;
 }