diff --git a/cli/cli.cc b/cli/cli.cc
index 86f5f6797..42ac7f52f 100644
--- a/cli/cli.cc
+++ b/cli/cli.cc
@@ -200,6 +200,8 @@ static std::string getConfigDir(int argc, char const** argv)
 
 int tr_main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     tr_locale_set_global("");
 
     tr_variant settings;
diff --git a/daemon/daemon.cc b/daemon/daemon.cc
index 6bf38dbd6..c963b0f2a 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon.cc
+++ b/daemon/daemon.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include <libtransmission/tr-getopt.h>
 #include <libtransmission/tr-macros.h>
 #include <libtransmission/tr-strbuf.h>
+#include <libtransmission/utils.h>
 #include <libtransmission/version.h>
 #include <libtransmission/watchdir.h>
 
@@ -691,9 +692,6 @@ int tr_daemon::start([[maybe_unused]] bool foreground)
 
     sd_notifyf(0, "MAINPID=%d\n", (int)getpid());
 
-    /* should go before libevent calls */
-    tr_net_init();
-
     /* setup event state */
     ev_base_ = event_base_new();
 
@@ -941,6 +939,8 @@ void tr_daemon::handle_error(tr_error* error) const
 
 int tr_main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     tr_locale_set_global("");
 
     int ret;
diff --git a/gtk/main.cc b/gtk/main.cc
index b59fec441..0b6c94bb4 100644
--- a/gtk/main.cc
+++ b/gtk/main.cc
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ Glib::OptionEntry create_option_entry(Glib::ustring const& long_name, gchar shor
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
+    /* init libtransmission */
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     /* init i18n */
     tr_locale_set_global("");
     bindtextdomain(AppTranslationDomainName, TRANSMISSIONLOCALEDIR);
diff --git a/libtransmission/session-thread.cc b/libtransmission/session-thread.cc
index b8303b728..4d08a3e56 100644
--- a/libtransmission/session-thread.cc
+++ b/libtransmission/session-thread.cc
@@ -113,8 +113,6 @@ unsigned long thread_current_id()
 
 void initEvthreadsOnce()
 {
-    tr_net_init();
-
     evthread_lock_callbacks constexpr LockCbs{
         EVTHREAD_LOCK_API_VERSION, EVTHREAD_LOCKTYPE_RECURSIVE, lock_alloc, lock_free, lock_lock, lock_unlock
     };
diff --git a/libtransmission/tr-lpd.cc b/libtransmission/tr-lpd.cc
index 97a8c6d41..97bae2d27 100644
--- a/libtransmission/tr-lpd.cc
+++ b/libtransmission/tr-lpd.cc
@@ -272,8 +272,6 @@ private:
      */
     bool initImpl(struct event_base* event_base)
     {
-        tr_net_init();
-
         int const opt_on = 1;
 
         static_assert(AnnounceScope > 0);
diff --git a/libtransmission/utils.cc b/libtransmission/utils.cc
index 77f6be748..9637283dd 100644
--- a/libtransmission/utils.cc
+++ b/libtransmission/utils.cc
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 #include <cstdint> // SIZE_MAX
 #include <cstdlib> // getenv()
 #include <cstring> /* strerror() */
-#include <ctime> // nanosleep()
 #include <iostream>
 #include <iterator> // for std::back_inserter
 #include <locale>
@@ -19,14 +18,12 @@
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
-#include <tuple>
 #include <vector>
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #include <windows.h> /* Sleep(), GetEnvironmentVariable() */
 
 #include <shellapi.h> /* CommandLineToArgv() */
-#include <ws2tcpip.h> /* WSAStartup() */
 #endif
 
 #ifndef _WIN32
@@ -36,6 +33,8 @@
 #define UTF_CPP_CPLUSPLUS 201703L
 #include <utf8.h>
 
+#include <curl/curl.h>
+
 #include <fmt/core.h>
 
 #include <fast_float/fast_float.h>
@@ -929,19 +928,36 @@ std::string tr_env_get_string(std::string_view key, std::string_view default_val
 
 // ---
 
-void tr_net_init()
+tr_net_init_mgr::tr_net_init_mgr()
 {
-#ifdef _WIN32
-    static bool initialized = false;
-
-    if (!initialized)
+    // try to init curl with default settings (currently ssl support + win32 sockets)
+    // but if that fails, we need to init win32 sockets as a bare minimum
+    if (curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_ALL) != CURLE_OK)
     {
-        WSADATA wsaData;
-        WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &wsaData);
-
-        initialized = true;
+        curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_WIN32);
     }
-#endif
+}
+
+tr_net_init_mgr::~tr_net_init_mgr()
+{
+    curl_global_cleanup();
+}
+
+std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> tr_net_init_mgr::create()
+{
+    if (!initialised)
+    {
+        initialised = true;
+        return std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr>{ new tr_net_init_mgr };
+    }
+    return {};
+}
+
+bool tr_net_init_mgr::initialised = false;
+
+std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> tr_lib_init()
+{
+    return tr_net_init_mgr::create();
 }
 
 // --- mime-type
diff --git a/libtransmission/utils.h b/libtransmission/utils.h
index 52ee00a10..c2abdee1d 100644
--- a/libtransmission/utils.h
+++ b/libtransmission/utils.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <cstdint> // uint8_t, uint32_t, uint64_t
 #include <cstddef> // size_t
 #include <ctime> // time_t
+#include <memory>
 #include <optional>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
@@ -340,4 +341,20 @@ void tr_formatter_get_units(void* dict);
 
 // ---
 
-void tr_net_init();
+class tr_net_init_mgr
+{
+private:
+    tr_net_init_mgr();
+    TR_DISABLE_COPY_MOVE(tr_net_init_mgr)
+
+public:
+    ~tr_net_init_mgr();
+    static std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> create();
+
+private:
+    static bool initialised;
+};
+
+/** @brief Initialise libtransmission for each app
+ *  @return A manager object to be kept in scope of main() */
+std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> tr_lib_init();
diff --git a/libtransmission/watchdir-win32.cc b/libtransmission/watchdir-win32.cc
index 360f3148d..3b8cc0962 100644
--- a/libtransmission/watchdir-win32.cc
+++ b/libtransmission/watchdir-win32.cc
@@ -134,8 +134,6 @@ private:
 
     void init(struct event_base* event_base)
     {
-        tr_net_init();
-
         auto const path = dirname();
         auto const wide_path = tr_win32_utf8_to_native(path);
         if (std::empty(wide_path))
diff --git a/libtransmission/web.cc b/libtransmission/web.cc
index 38a1584b5..fdea4f8d6 100644
--- a/libtransmission/web.cc
+++ b/libtransmission/web.cc
@@ -160,8 +160,6 @@ public:
     explicit Impl(Mediator& mediator_in)
         : mediator{ mediator_in }
     {
-        std::call_once(curl_init_flag, curlInit);
-
         if (auto bundle = tr_env_get_string("CURL_CA_BUNDLE"); !std::empty(bundle))
         {
             curl_ca_bundle = std::move(bundle);
@@ -778,19 +776,7 @@ public:
         }
     }
 
-    static inline auto curl_init_flag = std::once_flag{};
-
     std::map<CURL*, uint64_t /*tr_time_msec()*/> paused_easy_handles;
-
-    static void curlInit()
-    {
-        // try to enable ssl for https support;
-        // but if that fails, try a plain vanilla init
-        if (curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_SSL) != CURLE_OK)
-        {
-            curl_global_init(0);
-        }
-    }
 };
 
 tr_web::tr_web(Mediator& mediator)
diff --git a/macosx/main.mm b/macosx/main.mm
index 17cfadb6f..e473e563f 100644
--- a/macosx/main.mm
+++ b/macosx/main.mm
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 
 int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     tr_locale_set_global("");
 
     return NSApplicationMain(argc, (char const**)argv);
diff --git a/qt/Application.cc b/qt/Application.cc
index 6b883a8fe..82f418d7d 100644
--- a/qt/Application.cc
+++ b/qt/Application.cc
@@ -662,6 +662,8 @@ void Application::onNotificationActionInvoked(quint32 /* notification_id */, QSt
 
 int tr_main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     tr_locale_set_global("");
 
     InteropHelper::initialize();
diff --git a/tests/libtransmission/announcer-udp-test.cc b/tests/libtransmission/announcer-udp-test.cc
index 06a543f17..277982ce8 100644
--- a/tests/libtransmission/announcer-udp-test.cc
+++ b/tests/libtransmission/announcer-udp-test.cc
@@ -32,9 +32,8 @@ class AnnouncerUdpTest : public ::testing::Test
 private:
     void SetUp() override
     {
-        tr_net_init();
-
         ::testing::Test::SetUp();
+        init_mgr_ = tr_lib_init();
         tr_timeUpdate(time(nullptr));
     }
 
@@ -288,6 +287,8 @@ protected:
         return timer;
     }
 
+    std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> init_mgr_;
+
     // https://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0015.html
     static auto constexpr ProtocolId = uint64_t{ 0x41727101980ULL };
     static auto constexpr ConnectAction = uint32_t{ 0 };
diff --git a/tests/libtransmission/dht-test.cc b/tests/libtransmission/dht-test.cc
index 5460b375e..a54c39928 100644
--- a/tests/libtransmission/dht-test.cc
+++ b/tests/libtransmission/dht-test.cc
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 #include <libtransmission/file.h>
 #include <libtransmission/timer-ev.h>
+#include <libtransmission/utils.h>
 #include <libtransmission/session-thread.h> // for tr_evthread_init();
 
 #include "gtest/gtest.h"
@@ -388,6 +389,8 @@ protected:
     {
         SandboxedTest::SetUp();
 
+        init_mgr_ = tr_lib_init();
+
         tr_session_thread::tr_evthread_init();
         event_base_ = event_base_new();
     }
@@ -402,6 +405,8 @@ protected:
 
     struct event_base* event_base_ = nullptr;
 
+    std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> init_mgr_;
+
     // Arbitrary values. Several tests requires socket/port values
     // to be provided but they aren't central to the tests, so they're
     // declared here with "Arbitrary" in the name to make that clear.
diff --git a/tests/libtransmission/test-fixtures.h b/tests/libtransmission/test-fixtures.h
index da65c7727..bdbed5447 100644
--- a/tests/libtransmission/test-fixtures.h
+++ b/tests/libtransmission/test-fixtures.h
@@ -530,6 +530,8 @@ protected:
     {
         SandboxedTest::SetUp();
 
+        init_mgr_ = tr_lib_init();
+
         auto callback = [this](tr_torrent* tor, bool /*aborted*/)
         {
             auto verified_lock = std::scoped_lock(verified_mutex_);
@@ -554,6 +556,8 @@ private:
     std::mutex verified_mutex_;
     std::condition_variable verified_cv_;
     std::vector<tr_torrent*> verified_;
+
+    std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> init_mgr_;
 };
 
 } // namespace test
diff --git a/tests/libtransmission/watchdir-test.cc b/tests/libtransmission/watchdir-test.cc
index 452d3f6e8..07192c166 100644
--- a/tests/libtransmission/watchdir-test.cc
+++ b/tests/libtransmission/watchdir-test.cc
@@ -53,10 +53,13 @@ private:
     std::shared_ptr<struct event_base> ev_base_;
     std::unique_ptr<libtransmission::TimerMaker> timer_maker_;
 
+    std::unique_ptr<tr_net_init_mgr> init_mgr_;
+
 protected:
     void SetUp() override
     {
         SandboxedTest::SetUp();
+        init_mgr_ = tr_lib_init();
         ev_base_.reset(event_base_new(), event_base_free);
         timer_maker_ = std::make_unique<libtransmission::EvTimerMaker>(ev_base_.get());
         Watchdir::set_generic_rescan_interval(GenericRescanInterval);
diff --git a/utils/remote.cc b/utils/remote.cc
index a2c56396c..eb7e772d2 100644
--- a/utils/remote.cc
+++ b/utils/remote.cc
@@ -3290,6 +3290,8 @@ static void getHostAndPortAndRpcUrl(int* argc, char** argv, std::string* host, i
 
 int tr_main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     tr_locale_set_global("");
 
     auto config = Config{};
diff --git a/utils/show.cc b/utils/show.cc
index 0c2eaaa19..bfa2fec6c 100644
--- a/utils/show.cc
+++ b/utils/show.cc
@@ -398,6 +398,8 @@ void doScrape(tr_torrent_metainfo const& metainfo)
 
 int tr_main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
+    auto const init_mgr = tr_lib_init();
+
     tr_locale_set_global("");
 
     tr_logSetQueueEnabled(false);