diff --git a/common/init.c b/common/init.c
index c22a1342..83015402 100644
--- a/common/init.c
+++ b/common/init.c
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ static const char *commonInitErrors[] = {
 	NULL,
 };
 
-static int checkInitErrorLengths(uiInitError *err, const char *initErrors[])
+static int checkInitErrorLengths(uiInitError *err, const char **initErrors)
 {
 	const char **p;
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ static int checkInitErrorLengths(uiInitError *err, const char *initErrors[])
 	return 1;
 }
 
-int uiprivInitCheckParams(void *options, uiInitError *err, const char *initErrors[])
+int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
 {
 	if (err == NULL)
 		return 0;
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ int uiprivInitCheckParams(void *options, uiInitError *err, const char *initError
 
 	if (!checkInitErrorLengths(err, commonInitErrors))
 		return 0;
-	if (!checkInitErrorLengths(err, initErrors))
+	if (!checkInitErrorLengths(err, uiprivSysInitErrors()))
 		return 0;
 
 	if (initialized)
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ int uiprivInitCheckParams(void *options, uiInitError *err, const char *initError
 	if (options != NULL)
 		return uiprivInitReturnError(err, errOptionsMustBeNULL);
 
+	if (!uiprivSysInit(options, err))
+		return 0;
+	initialized = 1;
 	return 1;
 }
 
@@ -74,8 +77,3 @@ int uiprivInitReturnErrorf(uiInitError *err, const char *msg, ...)
 	va_end(ap);
 	return 0;
 }
-
-void uiprivMarkInitialized(void)
-{
-	initialized = 1;
-}
diff --git a/common/uipriv.h b/common/uipriv.h
index 3db2660b..613e0d0b 100644
--- a/common/uipriv.h
+++ b/common/uipriv.h
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 // init.c
-extern int uiprivInitCheckParams(void *options, uiInitError *err, const char *initErrors[]);
+extern const char **uiprivSysInitErrors(void);
+extern int uiprivSysInit(void *options, uiInitError *err);
 extern int uiprivInitReturnError(uiInitError *err, const char *msg);
 extern int uiprivInitReturnErrorf(uiInitError *err, const char *msg, ...);
-extern void uiprivMarkInitialized(void);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/darwin/main.m b/darwin/main.m
index 0532bf5e..9e95e3b3 100644
--- a/darwin/main.m
+++ b/darwin/main.m
@@ -43,11 +43,13 @@ static const char *initErrors[] = {
 	NULL,
 };
 
-int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
+const char **uiprivSysInitErrors(void)
 {
-	if (!uiprivInitCheckParams(options, err, initErrors))
-		return 0;
+	return initErrors;
+}
 
+int uiprivSysInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
+{
 	uiprivApp = [uiprivApplication sharedApplication];
 	if (![NSApp isKindOfClass:[uiprivApplication class]])
 		return uiprivInitReturnError(err, errNSAppAlreadyInitialized);
@@ -59,7 +61,6 @@ int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
 	uiprivAppDelegate = [uiprivApplicationDelegate new];
 	[uiprivApp setDelegate:uiprivAppDelegate];
 
-	uiprivMarkInitialized();
 	return 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/unix/main.c b/unix/main.c
index 87624119..1ab14138 100644
--- a/unix/main.c
+++ b/unix/main.c
@@ -1,20 +1,21 @@
 // 6 april 2015
 #include "uipriv_unix.h"
 
-int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
+const char **uiprivSysInitErrors(void)
+{
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+int uiprivSysInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
 {
 	GError *gerr = NULL;
 
-	if (!uiprivInitCheckParams(options, err, NULL))
-		return 0;
-
 	if (gtk_init_with_args(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &gerr) == FALSE) {
+		// TODO make sure this is safe
 		strncpy(err->Message, gerr->message, 255);
 		g_error_free(gerr);
 		return 0;
 	}
-
-	uiprivMarkInitialized();
 	return 1;
 }
 
diff --git a/windows/main.cpp b/windows/main.cpp
index 4bcef139..dbb69264 100644
--- a/windows/main.cpp
+++ b/windows/main.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ static const char *initErrors[] = {
 };
 #define uiprivInitReturnHRESULT(err, msg, hr) uiprivInitReturnErrorf(err, "%s: 0x%08I32X", msg, hr)
 
-int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
+const char **uiprivSysInitErrors(void)
+{
+	return initErrors;
+}
+
+int uiprivSysInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
 {
 	STARTUPINFOW si;
 	HICON hDefaultIcon;
@@ -69,9 +74,6 @@ int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
 	INITCOMMONCONTROLSEX icc;
 	HRESULT hr;
 
-	if (!uiprivInitCheckParams(options, err, initErrors))
-		return 0;
-
 	setHInstance();
 	uipriv_nCmdShow = SW_SHOWDEFAULT;
 	GetStartupInfoW(&si);
@@ -108,7 +110,6 @@ int uiInit(void *options, uiInitError *err)
 	// LONGTERM initialize COM security
 	// LONGTERM turn off COM exception handling
 */
-	uiprivMarkInitialized();
 	return 1;
 }