diff --git a/src/aiori-DUMMY.c b/src/aiori-DUMMY.c
index 95ca76c..8e129c7 100755
--- a/src/aiori-DUMMY.c
+++ b/src/aiori-DUMMY.c
@@ -149,5 +149,7 @@ ior_aiori_t dummy_aiori = {
   DUMMY_rmdir,
   DUMMY_access,
   DUMMY_stat,
+  NULL,
+  NULL,
   DUMMY_options
 };
diff --git a/src/aiori-S3.c b/src/aiori-S3.c
index 7e45711..955e0f0 100755
--- a/src/aiori-S3.c
+++ b/src/aiori-S3.c
@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ static void         EMC_Close(void*, IOR_param_t*);
 static void         S3_Delete(char*, IOR_param_t*);
 static void         S3_Fsync(void*, IOR_param_t*);
 static IOR_offset_t S3_GetFileSize(IOR_param_t*, MPI_Comm, char*);
+static void S3_init();
+static void S3_finalize();
 
 /************************** D E C L A R A T I O N S ***************************/
 
@@ -140,6 +142,8 @@ ior_aiori_t s3_aiori = {
 	.get_version = aiori_get_version,
 	.fsync = S3_Fsync,
 	.get_file_size = S3_GetFileSize,
+	.initialize = S3_init,
+	.finalize = S3_finalize
 };
 
 // "S3", plus EMC-extensions enabled
@@ -155,6 +159,8 @@ ior_aiori_t s3_plus_aiori = {
 	.set_version = S3_SetVersion,
 	.fsync = S3_Fsync,
 	.get_file_size = S3_GetFileSize,
+	.initialize = S3_init,
+	.finalize = S3_finalize
 };
 
 // Use EMC-extensions for N:1 write, as well
@@ -170,8 +176,22 @@ ior_aiori_t s3_emc_aiori = {
 	.set_version = S3_SetVersion,
 	.fsync = S3_Fsync,
 	.get_file_size = S3_GetFileSize,
+	.initialize = S3_init,
+	.finalize = S3_finalize
 };
 
+static void S3_init(){
+    /* This is supposed to be done before *any* threads are created.
+     * Could MPI_Init() create threads (or call multi-threaded
+     * libraries)?  We'll assume so. */
+    AWS4C_CHECK( aws_init() );
+}
+
+static void S3_finalize(){
+    /* done once per program, after exiting all threads.
+     * NOTE: This fn doesn't return a value that can be checked for success. */
+    aws_cleanup();
+}
 
 /* modelled on similar macros in iordef.h */
 #define CURL_ERR(MSG, CURL_ERRNO, PARAM)										\
diff --git a/src/aiori.c b/src/aiori.c
index 2816bc1..8ec7130 100644
--- a/src/aiori.c
+++ b/src/aiori.c
@@ -117,6 +117,28 @@ char* aiori_get_version()
   return "";
 }
 
+void aiori_initialize(){
+  /* Sanity check, we were compiled with SOME backend, right? */
+  if (0 == aiori_count ()) {
+          ERR("No IO backends compiled into aiori.  "
+              "Run 'configure --with-<backend>', and recompile.");
+  }
+
+  for (ior_aiori_t **tmp = available_aiori ; *tmp != NULL; ++tmp) {
+    if((*tmp)->initialize){
+      (*tmp)->initialize();
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+void aiori_finalize(){
+  for (ior_aiori_t **tmp = available_aiori ; *tmp != NULL; ++tmp) {
+    if((*tmp)->finalize){
+      (*tmp)->finalize();
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 const ior_aiori_t *aiori_select (const char *api)
 {
         char warn_str[256] = {0};
diff --git a/src/aiori.h b/src/aiori.h
index afb763f..0046e1f 100755
--- a/src/aiori.h
+++ b/src/aiori.h
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ typedef struct ior_aiori {
         int (*rmdir) (const char *path, IOR_param_t * param);
         int (*access) (const char *path, int mode, IOR_param_t * param);
         int (*stat) (const char *path, struct stat *buf, IOR_param_t * param);
+        void (*initialize)(); /* called once per program before MPI is started */
+        void (*finalize)(); /* called once per program after MPI is shutdown */
         option_help * (*get_options)();
 } ior_aiori_t;
 
@@ -94,6 +96,8 @@ extern ior_aiori_t s3_plus_aiori;
 extern ior_aiori_t s3_emc_aiori;
 extern ior_aiori_t rados_aiori;
 
+void aiori_initialize();
+void aiori_finalize();
 const ior_aiori_t *aiori_select (const char *api);
 int aiori_count (void);
 const char *aiori_default (void);
diff --git a/src/ior.c b/src/ior.c
index 4cfd821..4307558 100755
--- a/src/ior.c
+++ b/src/ior.c
@@ -62,12 +62,6 @@ IOR_test_t * ior_run(int argc, char **argv, MPI_Comm world_com, FILE * world_out
         MPI_CHECK(MPI_Comm_rank(mpi_comm_world, &rank), "cannot get rank");
         PrintEarlyHeader();
 
-        /* Sanity check, we were compiled with SOME backend, right? */
-        if (0 == aiori_count ()) {
-                ERR("No IO backends compiled into ior.  "
-                    "Run 'configure --with-<backend>', and recompile.");
-        }
-
         /* setup tests, and validate parameters */
         tests_head = ParseCommandLine(argc, argv);
         InitTests(tests_head, world_com);
@@ -105,18 +99,13 @@ int ior_main(int argc, char **argv)
     out_logfile = stdout;
     out_resultfile = stdout;
 
+    aiori_initialize();
+
     /*
      * check -h option from commandline without starting MPI;
      */
     tests_head = ParseCommandLine(argc, argv);
 
-  #ifdef USE_S3_AIORI
-    /* This is supposed to be done before *any* threads are created.
-     * Could MPI_Init() create threads (or call multi-threaded
-     * libraries)?  We'll assume so. */
-    AWS4C_CHECK( aws_init() );
-  #endif
-
     /* start the MPI code */
     MPI_CHECK(MPI_Init(&argc, &argv), "cannot initialize MPI");
 
@@ -131,12 +120,6 @@ int ior_main(int argc, char **argv)
     /*MPI_CHECK(MPI_Errhandler_set(mpi_comm_world, MPI_ERRORS_RETURN),
        "cannot set errhandler"); */
 
-    /* Sanity check, we were compiled with SOME backend, right? */
-    if (0 == aiori_count ()) {
-            ERR("No IO backends compiled into ior.  "
-                "Run 'configure --with-<backend>', and recompile.");
-    }
-
     /* setup tests, and validate parameters */
     InitTests(tests_head, mpi_comm_world);
     verbose = tests_head->params.verbose;
@@ -173,11 +156,7 @@ int ior_main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     MPI_CHECK(MPI_Finalize(), "cannot finalize MPI");
 
-  #ifdef USE_S3_AIORI
-    /* done once per program, after exiting all threads.
-     * NOTE: This fn doesn't return a value that can be checked for success. */
-    aws_cleanup();
-  #endif
+    aiori_finalize();
 
     return totalErrorCount;
 }
diff --git a/src/mdtest-main.c b/src/mdtest-main.c
index 0230a77..854456f 100644
--- a/src/mdtest-main.c
+++ b/src/mdtest-main.c
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 #include "mdtest.h"
+#include "aiori.h"
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
+    aiori_initialize();
     MPI_Init(&argc, &argv);
 
     mdtest_run(argc, argv, MPI_COMM_WORLD, stdout);
 
     MPI_Finalize();
+    aiori_finalize();
     return 0;
 }