diff --git a/src/platform/platform.h b/src/platform/platform.h
index 0c249c370b..b127969ec8 100644
--- a/src/platform/platform.h
+++ b/src/platform/platform.h
@@ -196,6 +196,9 @@ bool platform_check_steam_overlay_attached();
 
 datetime64 platform_get_datetime_now_utc();
 
+// Called very early in the program before parsing commandline arguments.
+void core_init();
+
 // Windows specific definitions
 #ifdef __WINDOWS__
 	#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
diff --git a/src/platform/posix.c b/src/platform/posix.c
index c549f55a47..75673e3e6a 100644
--- a/src/platform/posix.c
+++ b/src/platform/posix.c
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ utf8 _openrctDataDirectoryPath[MAX_PATH] = { 0 };
  */
 int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
+	core_init();
+	
 	int run_game = cmdline_run(argv, argc);
 	if (run_game == 1)
 	{
diff --git a/src/platform/shared.c b/src/platform/shared.c
index 395afdc2f7..7e2db30792 100644
--- a/src/platform/shared.c
+++ b/src/platform/shared.c
@@ -782,3 +782,8 @@ uint8 platform_get_currency_value(const char *currCode) {
 	
 	return CURRENCY_POUNDS;
 }
+
+void core_init()
+{
+	bitcount_init();
+}
diff --git a/src/platform/windows.c b/src/platform/windows.c
index 82fe20673b..32fe6fb427 100644
--- a/src/platform/windows.c
+++ b/src/platform/windows.c
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine
 {
 	_dllModule = hInstance;
 
+	core_init();
+
 	int argc;
 	char ** argv = (char**)windows_get_command_line_args(&argc);
 	int runGame = cmdline_run((const char **)argv, argc);
@@ -86,6 +88,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	HINSTANCE hInstance = GetModuleHandle(NULL);
 	_dllModule = hInstance;
 
+	core_init();
+
 	int runGame = cmdline_run((const char **)argv, argc);
 	if (runGame == 1) {
 		openrct2_launch();
@@ -124,6 +128,8 @@ __declspec(dllexport) int StartOpenRCT(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInsta
 		_dllModule = GetModuleHandleA(OPENRCT2_DLL_MODULE_NAME);
 	}
 
+	core_init();
+
 	// argv = CommandLineToArgvA(lpCmdLine, &argc);
 	argv = (char**)windows_get_command_line_args(&argc);
 	runGame = cmdline_run((const char **)argv, argc);
diff --git a/src/util/util.c b/src/util/util.c
index e988d7ec5a..1cb56a3511 100644
--- a/src/util/util.c
+++ b/src/util/util.c
@@ -253,13 +253,15 @@ static int bitcount_lut(int source)
 		BitsSetTable256[source >> 24];
 }
 
+static int(*bitcount_fn)(int);
+
+void bitcount_init(void)
+{
+	bitcount_fn = bitcount_available() ? bitcount_popcnt : bitcount_lut;
+}
+
 int bitcount(int source)
 {
-	static int(*bitcount_fn)(int);
-	if(bitcount_fn == 0)
-	{
-		bitcount_fn = bitcount_available() ? bitcount_popcnt : bitcount_lut;
-	}
 	return bitcount_fn(source);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/util/util.h b/src/util/util.h
index 261596ba3f..46e931b4f2 100644
--- a/src/util/util.h
+++ b/src/util/util.h
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ void path_end_with_separator(utf8 *path, size_t size);
 bool readentirefile(const utf8 *path, void **outBuffer, size_t *outLength);
 
 int bitscanforward(int source);
+void bitcount_init(void);
 int bitcount(int source);
 bool strequals(const char *a, const char *b, int length, bool caseInsensitive);
 int strcicmp(char const *a, char const *b);