diff --git a/src/test/csrc/emu.cpp b/src/test/csrc/emu.cpp
index 38c8f8783a6352dccb2b01f27562103799efd44d..733039f645473faa0e18c35fa2d948dd4dd0731d 100644
--- a/src/test/csrc/emu.cpp
+++ b/src/test/csrc/emu.cpp
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ Emulator::Emulator(int argc, const char *argv[]):
   srand48(args.seed);
   Verilated::randReset(2);
 
+  // init core
+  reset_ncycles(10);
+
   // init ram
   extern void init_ram(const char *img);
   init_ram(args.image);
@@ -104,9 +107,6 @@ Emulator::Emulator(int argc, const char *argv[]):
   enable_waveform = false;
 #endif
 
-  // init core
-  reset_ncycles(10);
-
   if (args.snapshot_path != NULL) {
     printf("loading from snapshot `%s`...\n", args.snapshot_path);
     snapshot_load(args.snapshot_path);