diff --git a/main-loop.c b/main-loop.c
index 234a3130c2..c87624e621 100644
--- a/main-loop.c
+++ b/main-loop.c
@@ -128,7 +128,6 @@ int qemu_init_main_loop(void)
         exit(1);
     }
 
-    qemu_mutex_lock_iothread();
     ret = qemu_signal_init();
     if (ret) {
         return ret;
diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index e2d5276988..0f5b07bbde 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -3477,7 +3477,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp)
     }
     loc_set_none();
 
-    qemu_init_cpu_loop();
     if (qemu_init_main_loop()) {
         fprintf(stderr, "qemu_init_main_loop failed\n");
         exit(1);
@@ -3677,6 +3676,9 @@ 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();