diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index 30445a58c..9b0ded5b5 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -560,8 +560,8 @@ static void mi_process_init_once(void) {
   // the following can potentially allocate (on freeBSD for pthread keys)
   _mi_tls_slots_init();      // pthread key create
   _mi_thread_locals_init();  // pthread key create
-  mi_process_setup_auto_thread_done();  // after the above mi_thread_init so it can add the current theap  
-  _mi_process_is_initialized = true;
+  _mi_process_is_initialized = true;    // before `mi_process_setup_auto_thread_done` so `_mi_theap_default` returns the current theap with `MI_TLS_RECURSE_GUARD`
+  mi_process_setup_auto_thread_done();  // after the above mi_thread_init so it can add the current theap
 
   #if defined(_WIN32) && defined(MI_WIN_INIT_USE_FLS)
   // On windows, when building as a static lib the FLS cleanup happens to early for the main thread.